A BAD Summer
by tickledorange
Summary: Harry returns from his 4th year at hogwarts and is abused worse than ever by his uncle. However, someone has just shown up who may be able to save him from his uncle, and overall, himself.WARNING: CHILD ABUSE AND BAD LANGUAGE! ATTENTION: THIS STORY DOES
1. Homelife sufferings

A/N: Okay, I know that not a tom of people like abuse stories, but I am one of the ones that does. I have a bit of this story written out and I plan to update about once a week. If I get enough reviews, however, I may update a bit more often. This story will last about 15 chaps, so yeah. If you have some constructive criticism I will take it, but try not to be too mean about it. Other than that, enjoy the story.

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WARNINGS:CHILD ABUSE AND SOME BAD LANGUAGE!

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Disclaimer: Guess what? No really guess. I'm serious, guess! Okay well, you were wrong. I was really gonna say that JKR owns the characters, not me, but 'your brother just ate a bouquet of flower stems' is a good guess too. But that was last week…

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Abuse is a horrible thing. Whether it is to a child, a spouse, a date, or an animal, it is one of the worst experiences one could ever go through. Abuse is also an experience that not everyone has to suffer through, but for those who do, it is simply unbearable. Harry Potter of number 4 Privet Drive was one of those unfortunate people. Harry, a 14 year old orphan, lived with his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon in the aforementioned residence, and had ever since his parents were killed when he was only one year old. Harry was also a wizard, and a rather good one at that. He was so good, in fact, that he was prophesized to be the demise of the most evil wizard of all time: Lord Voldemort. That, however, is not very important to this story, so I shall not go into it as of now.

As I had previously mentioned, Harry Potter was an abused child. Abused by his family because of his abnormality, as they called it, of being a wizard. It had always been this way, for as long as he could remember, but it had worsened since he had returned from his fourth year at Hogwarts. His family's hatred of him seemed to have increased, due to his exit towards the end of last summer. His best friend, Ron Weasley, as well as his father and twin brothers, had blown up the Dursley's fireplace when retrieving him, and then grown his porky cousin, Dudley's tongue 4 feet long! It all seemed quite humorous at the time, all in good fun, but Harry had never expected it to escalade into what he was receiving now.

"WHERE IS HE!" screamed his distinctly drunk uncle from the main floor, "WHERE IS THE LITTLE BASTARD!"

Someone must have answered, as less than 5 seconds later, he heard the beefy man thundering up the steps to the second floor landing. Not a moment later, Uncle Vernon threw open the door to Harry's room.

"GET OVER HERE!" Vernon hissed. Harry walked hesitantly towards the drunken man. "I SAID GET OVER HERE YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" he screeched, smacking his fearful nephew with the empty liquor bottle still clutched in his hand. Harry stumbled backwards, holding his face where the bottle had smashed it. "Maybe you'll listen better next time. Now, get over here, I have a present for you!" Vernon said, so coldly that Harry got goose bumps all up his arms. Or maybe that was from the fear. He didn't care.

As soon as he was within two feet of his uncle, Harry felt the whip across his chest. It hurt. He hated that whip. Uncle Vernon had bought it when Harry was only 6, and he had felt it nearly every night until he was 11, when he only had to feel it in the summers when he was back from school.

Soon Vernon became rather bored with the whip and decided to just kick and hit the child's open wounds for the next 20 minutes, causing him more pain than you or I would think imaginable. After his uncle had decided Harry had learned his lesson for the day, Harry was left alone in his room to tend to his wounds (as well as one can without proper supplies) and soon fell into a fitful, painful sleep.

The next day, Harry was awoken by his Aunt Petunia at around 5:45am to begin his daily chores and cook the family's breakfast. He began with the outdoor chores, hoping to get them finished before the unforgiving heat of the afternoon sun came, but had to stop around 7:30 to prepare the mornings breakfast, though he was only part way finished with the weeding.

After breakfast was on the table (he had managed to even sneak himself a pancake without the Dursley's knowing), Harry left the house once again to continue with the outdoor work, and was completely finished before the clock hit 10! Next he made his way to the living room, to vacuum and dust the carpeting and furniture. Then he did the bathrooms, Dudley's bedroom, attic, and the basement before the Dursley's allowed him to leave it for the day, at 6pm.

With his little bit of free time, Harry decided to visit the park down the road, as it was still somewhat light out. Uncle Vernon allowed this, if for no other reason than to show that the boy was still alive, but said he must return within the span of two hours. He gratefully thanked his uncle and set out down the road, happier than he had been in weeks to spend just a little time away from that god forsaken house. He sat on the swings and watched the sky and was just preparing to leave when he heard a very familiar voice behind him:

"Hey Harry!"


	2. An unexpected visitor

A/N: So…chapter two…yeah…

WARNINGS:CHILD ABUSE AND SOME BAD LANGUAGE!

Disclaimer: Guess what? No really guess. I'm serious, guess! Okay well, you were wrong. I was really gonna say that JKR owns the characters, not me, but 'your brother just ate a bouquet of flower stems' is a good guess too. But that was last week…

"Hey Harry! What are you doing here?" called the ever inquisitive voice of Harry's best friend, Hermione Granger. He turned and looked at her, wondering if he dare believe she was really there.

"Hermione?" he asked, "what are _you_ doing here?"

"Oh, I'm staying with my Auntie Susan. She lives right over there, at number 8 Privet Drive. But what are you doing here? Do you live here? And, oh my goodness!" She gasped, noticing the mark on his face from where his uncle had hit him the night before, "What on earth happened? Did that cousin of yours do that? Why that little-"

"No, Hermione, Dudley didn't do it. I-I got in a fight. With this kid . He kept bugging me a-about not having any parents. And you know how rough last year was for me. I just c-couldn't stop myself. And, as you can tell, he hit me back. Last time I pick a fight." He explained quickly. Hermione still looked skeptical, but whatever suspicions she had, she kept to herself.

"So, anyways, you said you're staying with your Aunt Susan? Are you going to be here all summer?" Harry asked her.

"Oh, yes. My parents decided to visit my Great-grandmother this summer and I decided I would much rather stay with Sue. I love it here. Though, it is rather odd that I have never run into you before. We have come here once a year for the past 6 years!" She added thoughtfully.

"Well," began Harry, "Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia don't usually let me come out too much. I rather like it more in my room anyways. All these people around here think I'm a punk. I don't mind it much though. I quite like the peace."

"Oh, well, I have to get in, its nearly 8, but could we meet up again tomorrow? Where do you live, I could come visit! How early do you wake up? I do about 6. Or maybe I could just call." As she continued this train of thought, something she said just hit him.

"Did you say it's nearly 8?" At her nod he muttered "oh shit" and began to hurry away. He turned back, realizing how impolite he was being and said to her "Meet me here tomorrow morning at around 6:30. We can talk more then." He then hurried the rest of the way back to number 4.

Harry arrived at his residence around 8:02, which to most people would seem okay, seeing as he was merely two minutes later than he said he would be, but Uncle Vernon didn't seem to share this idea. Harry got a harder beating than usual that night, resulting in a few broken ribs and a black eye. He followed the usual ritual of fixing his injuries as best he could then sleeping, but was horribly sore when his aunt awoke him at the next morning. Harry got up and showered then began his outdoor chores again, while his aunt sat in the living room and read the novel she had been reading the past few days. As soon as he was sure she wasn't watching, Harry snuck past the living room window to the park he had visited the night before.

When he got there, he wasn't surprised to find that he was a bit early, and that Hermione wasn't there yet, but contended himself to sitting on the swings, thinking. After a while, Hermione did show up. Noticing his newest injury, she began to question him yet again.

"Please, Hermione, just drop it, I don't want to talk about it right now."

"But Harry, if someone is hurting you, we need to stop it! We could-"

"I SAID DROP IT!" he shouted at her. They were silent for a little while, until Harry added, "I'm sorry, 'Mione, but can we talk about it later? I don't have much time to talk right now. I must get back before 7:30 when Aunt Petunia gets me to make breakfast. If I'm not there, I don't even want to think about what will happen."

Hermione wanted to argue, but something else he said occupied her mind. "What do you mean 'I don't even want to think about what will happen'? What do you think they'd do?"

"Well, I mean, I have enough chores already, and if they added any more I wouldn't even have time to breathe!" He said, satisfying Hermione. For then. "But, to answer your question from last night, I live at number 4. And I would rather appreciate it if you didn't call, as they might not like that. And if you want to visit, don't come and ask for me or start visiting when I'm outside, but casually talk to me as you are walking and I will check if it is clear to talk."

"But why so many precautions? Surely they wouldn't mind you simply _talking_ to someone."

"You don't know them like I do, 'Mione. They have spent my whole life ensuring that I am as miserable as possible. If they even thought that I had made a friend, they would find a way to keep me from them at all costs."

"Well, alright, but can we meet here sometimes as well? I mean, it will be hard to have a conversation if we have to constantly look out for your relatives. It would make it so much easier if we could just talk like this sometimes." She wondered.

"Well, I suppose we could, when I can get away. How about this: if I have some free time and can get away, I will go knock on your door and we can talk. Also, if you want to meet me in the morning like this, just walk down. I'll be outside usually from 6 to about 10 or 11. But if you do that, remember the procedure. And I wonder, do you have the time?"

"Don't worry, it's only quarter after 7. You have time to get home." She informed him, checking her watch.

"Thanks, Hermione! I'll talk to you later, alright?"

"Of course. See you, Harry!" She called to his retreating back.

As she watched him run back to his house on privet drive, Hermione couldn't help but notice how he limped slightly, and grabbed at his sides as if in pain. There was more about those injuries than he would admit, but Hermione knew he would tell her eventually.

"I only hope he tells me before something worse happens." She said to herself, turning back to walk towards her aunts house.

END A/N: so…yeah…that was chapter two…how'd ya like it? Thanks for the reviewers, pAge-bReaTher and NoteBookLover. I'll update again soon…hopefully!


	3. Hunger

A/N: alright… this is chapter 3… thanks to all of my reviewers from the last chap, you keep me going! You all rock!

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WARNINGS:CHILD ABUSE AND SOME BAD LANGUAGE!

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Disclaimer: Guess what? No really guess. I'm serious, guess! Okay well, you were wrong. I was really gonna say that JKR owns the characters, not me, but 'your brother just ate a bouquet of flower stems' is a good guess too. But that was last week…

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Harry reached number 4 just in time to finish mulching the garden before he had to make them breakfast. Today he was not so lucky as to get a pancake, but survived on his banana as well he could. He knew that he had been quite strict with Hermione about the visitations, but if he hadn't been it may very well have been a risk to his life, and he also knew that she would not want to be his cause of death, and just figured it as for the best and continued on with his work of cleaning the spare bedroom, the kitchen, the den, and the front hall. Today he got finished early, yet again, and was allowed to leave the house.

He decided to go and see what Hermione was up to, because he had 3 hours to kill before he had to be home. So he walked the short way to number 8, feeling more and more hungry with every step he took. By the time he got there, he was pretty sure that he would pass out if he didn't get food, and sure enough! He had just reached her doorstep when he fainted, but luckily the thud was heard by Hermione, who was sitting in the living room reading.

Her aunt had just gone out to get them some dinner from a near by fast-food restaurant when she heard the thud from outside her door. She opened it to find her best friend lying across her front step with a small amount of blood leaking from his head.

"Oh god! Harry!" She panicked, trying to figure out what to do. She quickly decided to move him into the house. She was both surprised and somewhat frightened at how easily she could pick up her friend, but tried to put it out of her mind. Once he was safely on the couch, she began trying to wake him up. It only took a few minutes before he became conscious and sat up, immediately being forced back down by Hermione.

"Whoa there, Harry. You hit your head pretty hard. I wouldn't get up right away, if I were you."

"Hermione? Where am I? And, oh god, what time is it?" He asked frantically, trying and failing to sit up once again.

"Relax, Harry, relax. It is only about half past 5. And you are at my Auntie Sue's house. Now, would you mind explaining to me how you ended up fainting on my front porch?" She asked him worriedly.

He looked a little hesitant, but ended up answering. "Well, Uncle Vernon let me have some free time when I was done with my chores and I decided to visit. On the way I got really hungry and just ended up passing out on your porch. No big deal."

"You were so hungry you passed out?" she asked, getting worried again, remembering how light he was. At his nod she continued, "How much have you eaten today, Harry? It takes really low blood sugar and _very_ little food to make a person pass out." He muttered something under his breath. "I can't here you when you mumble."

"All I've had is a banana, okay? It's no big deal." He answered, finally breaking free of her restraint and sitting up, immediately laying back down as he was very dizzy.

"A banana? That is all you've eaten? What are those relatives of yours trying to do, starve you to death? God, no wonder you only weigh, like a pound!" She ranted.

"Calm down, Hermione! They are not trying to starve me to death! I'm used to eating that much, and I haven't died yet, have I?" He asked. Wrong thing to say.

"What do you mean you're used to it? Is this all they ever feed you? Goodness, no wonder you eat so much at school! It must be the only time you get food. And that explains why you get hurt so often in quidditch as well. Your bones must be horribly weak from so little calcium. And- Harry James Potter, you lay back down right this instant!" She scolded, as he tried to sit up yet again.

"Listen, 'Mione. I know you are just trying to help, but can we move on to another topic? I know that I don't eat enough and I know it's not healthy, but there is nothing I can do about it for now, so I'd rather not discuss it." He pleaded with her.

She looked skeptical, but agreed. "Just don't think we are done here, Harry Potter. We will finish this later." After her very Mrs.-Weasley-ish words, she suddenly stood up and walked to the phone.

"Who are you calling? You aren't calling the Dursleys or something, are you? Oh please, 'Mione, please-"

"Oh, stop it Harry. I am just calling Sue to pick you up some food as well!" she said.

"She doesn't have to. I'm fine now. Really, see?" He said, jumping of the couch, then realizing he was too weak to stand and falling over the coffee table.

"Oh stop it Harry. You need food. Now sit on the couch like a good little boy while I get it for you." She said, rather condescendingly. He cooperated, however, and did as he was told. When she was done on the phone, Hermione turned back to her friend, and noticed that his head was still bleeding from his fall on the porch. "Oh, how does your head feel?" She asked, beginning to panic again. "Did you get a concussion? I'll go get some ice!" She said, rushing to the kitchen. She returned to see him asleep right where she had left him and though she didn't want to, knowing that he was probably far happier asleep, Hermione knew that she had to wake him, because if he did have a concussion, he may never wake again if not now. So Hermione walked over to the couch and began to lightly shake him. Then she shook him harder. Still receiving no results Hermione started shaking him more and more vigorously. Then she began to panic yet again.

As Hermione was freaking out and wondering what to do, her aunt returned bearing McDonalds food for the 3 of them. Upon seeing her niece's state, and the boy sprawled out on her couch, Sue ran to the frantic girl and demanded to know what had happened.

"Okay, well, as soon as I hung up the phone, I remembered that he hit his head so I went to get ice and when I came back he wouldn't wake up!" she sobbed frantically.

"Alright, Hermione. First of all calm down. It doesn't help anything to spazz out. Are you calm now?" Hermione nodded, "Okay, now can you call 911 and get an ambulance over here? If there is any head trauma he will definitely need to see a doctor." She turned to see her niece, still rather pale and peaky, rushing to the phone.

In only a few minutes, an ambulance pulled up in the driveway of number 8 Privet Drive and picked up Harry to take him to the hospital. Hermione was allowed to ride with him (if for no other reason than because she wouldn't allow them to leave without her) and her aunt drove separately, promising to meet up with her at the hospital. So, off they went.

Hermione was terrified standing in that ambulance. The whole time they kept listening for a heartbeat, checking for breathing, and doing all sorts of things like that. She was sure he was going to die. And further more, she thought it was her fault. _'If I only would have checked his head earlier. If I only would have gotten to the phone faster. If I only…_' she kept saying to herself. After a while a medic turned to her.

"Alright, Miss, what has happened here?" he asked her.

"I was sitting in my living room reading when I heard a loud noise outside and I looked and he was there and he had passed out and I brought him in and he woke up and hit his head and he passed out again and now he won't wake up and... and... food... bananas... phone..." She said incredibly quickly, but somehow the medic got what she was saying.

"Alright guys, check for signs of a concussion or any other head injuries," he told his team, who immediately obeyed, "and you, Miss, can you calm down for me?" he asked Hermione sweetly.

"I c-c-can try" she stuttered nervously.

"Just take a deep breath, alright? In and out. That's right" he said as she did what she was told. Surprisingly, it worked. "Now," he began again, after he was sure she was calm, "What is your name."

"Hermione Granger."

"And what is _his_ name?" the medic asked, pointing to Harry.

"Harry Potter."

"Alright, Hermione, how do you know Mr. Potter?"

"He is my very best friend," she said quietly, adding "Is he gonna be okay?"

"Well, we won't know for sure until we check him out at the hospital, but I think he will recover after a day or so." He informed her, instantly comforting her.

"Thank you," she said, barely above a whisper.

"You're quite welcome, little Missy." He answered kindly.

Soon enough they entered the waiting room of the hospital. Hermione and her aunt waited while Harry was checked, on edge the whole time.

"Don't worry, hun, Harry will be just fine." Her aunt soothed.

"But what if he's not? What if there is more? What if his fall isn't the reason he passed out?" she asked anxiously.

"Why would you think something else happened? Did he say something?" her aunt asked.

"It's more like that he _didn't_ say something." At her aunt's blank look, she continued. "See, it's like this. As you know, me and Harry have met up a couple times since I got here. After one of them, this morning in fact, he left limping quite badly. He also has bruises on his face and grabs at his sides a lot. He claims it's from getting in fights, but I don't believe it. He is not so stupid as to get in fights that he knows he will lose, and there is almost no chance that he could win in a physical fight. He is too small and weak. Plus, he doesn't get food, making him weaker. I think that his cousin is doing it to him, but whenever I ask, he gets all defensive and changes the subject. Beside, even if it is his cousin, what can I do about it? His aunt and uncle apparently don't care and no one else can keep his cousin away from him!" she vented, happy to get it off her chest.

"Alright, Hermione, even if there is something going on with him, Harry, would have told you if it got too bad, don't you think?" Sue asked.

"You don't know him like I do! Harry is very secretive about his life, especially the bad parts. He doesn't want people's pity and he doesn't want to show weakness by saying if something is wrong! It must have been growing up with those god-awful Dursleys. They have sucked all the emotion, the vulnerability out of him."

"Well, honey, we won't know until the doctor gets back, so in the mean time, lets go get some food. We never did get to eat our dinner and there is another McDonalds only a few blocks away." When she saw Hermione's uneasy look she added, "We won't be long, and I doubt they will be out soon. They will make sure to check every inch of him before they give us a report." Hermione grudgingly agreed to this and they set off down the corridor towards the parking lot.

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End A/N: well… so… yeah… thanks again to all my reviewers (pAge-bReaTher, NoteBookLover, devilish dragon, and Daniel Freakz) and as you may have noticed, I typed this chapter in Verdana instead of TNR… I like it better… yeah… I don't think you really care much about the font do you? Well… okay then… THANKS AGAIN (third time now)…

TIckLEdoRAngE


	4. Letters

A/N: so, here it is! CHAPTER 4! Thank you, thank you, and thanks to reviewers! Your comments make my day!

WARNINGS:CHILD ABUSE AND SOME BAD LANGUAGE!

Disclaimer: Guess what? No really guess. I'm serious, guess! Okay well, you were wrong. I was really gonna say that JKR owns the characters, not me, but 'your brother just ate a bouquet of flower stems' is a good guess too. But that was last week…

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After a meal and a talk with her aunt, Hermione felt 200 percent better than before. They had only been gone about 45 minutes and during that time, her aunt had been able to completely turn her attitude around. Now, as she re-entered the waiting room of the hospital, Hermione felt confident that her friend would be okay.

Sue and Hermione talked for another half hour in the waiting room before a doctor came out with some news on Harry.

"Hello ladies are you here for Harry Potter?" he asked them. They nodded. "Alright, how are you related to Mr. Potter?"

Hermione was about to say that they weren't related, but before she could, Sue broke in.

"I am his mother, Rita Potter and this is his sister Hermione Granger." At his odd look over the last names, she added, "Ugly divorce. Hermione still has her father's surname." He nodded understandingly and began explaining to them about his injuries.

"Well, young Mr. Potter seems to have several broken ribs, much bruising and scarring on his back and chest, a fractured ankle and a mild concussion." He told them while reading his charts, "I was wondering how Mr. Potter came to have these many injuries." He asked accusingly.

"Well, Harry gets into a lot of fights, standing up for me. All the people at school make fun of me for being a bookworm. But he never actually wins the fights. Just ends up getting himself hurt." Hermione told the doctor, surprising herself by her lying abilities. _'Harry and Ron have definitely been bad influences on me.'_ She thought to herself.

"Well why on earth hasn't he been checked out before? Some of these injuries are pretty old." The doctor asked with the same accusation in his voice.

"Well he is very good at hiding pain, sir. He never showed that he was hurting," Hermione whimpered pathetically. The doctor felt bad and began to back off.

"Mr. Potter is asleep at this moment, so if you would like to come back tomorrow to see him, you are quite welcome to." They looked as if they wanted to object but he would not change his mind. "The boy needs rest, so the soonest you can see him is tomorrow." They finally nodded, only because they knew he needed rest. "Aright, then I will see you tomorrow. Have a nice night Ms. Potter, Miss Granger." And with that he turned and left them in the waiting room.

As they got back into the car, Hermione finally asked the question she had been itching to know the answer to.

"Aunt Sue?" she asked her aunt, "Why did you say we were Harry's family when we aren't? Couldn't we get in trouble for that? Lying, I mean?"

"Well Hermione, I knew that they wouldn't tell us anything unless we were related to him, and I thought we needed to know, so I just made sure that we got what we needed." Sue answered nonchalantly.

"But couldn't we still get in trouble if they found out?"

"No, no, _I'd_ get in trouble. I am technically the one who lied."

"But I said-"

"You said that he stands up for you and gets into fights. You never said a thing about being related to him." Sue explained. "Oh, and by the way, quick thinking on that one. When did you get to be such a good liar?"

"I guess Harry and Ron have rubbed off on me!" Hermione returned. "And I was wondering Sue, do you have a spare bedroom? I mean, besides the one I'm staying in." She asked the older woman.

"Yes, I actually have three on the upper floor. Had them added on during the additions last year. Why do you ask?" Her aunt inquired.

"I was just wondering if maybe Ron could stay with us. Then he could see Harry as well and we might be able to figure out what is up with him." She explained.

"I think that can be arranged. When do you want him to come?" Sue asked.

"Well, when can he?"

"Whenever you'd like, sweetie. Just give me a warning so I can set up the bedroom." She told her niece.

"Alright! I'll owl him when we get back to the house!" She exclaimed.

"You do that. It will be nice for you to have someone here anyways. I may be working a bit more this summer than usual. I got the Wreichester case at work, and they are paying me a heck of a lot to be their lawyer, so I best do a good job!" Her aunt informed her.

"Well, I guess you need to be gone then. But you will be home sometimes, won't you?" Hermione asked sadly.

"Oh yes, I won't have to work weekends, including Fridays, I will just work longer during the week!" She said, immediately raising Hermione's spirits. "And we are home!" She sighed as they pulled into the driveway. Sue walked into the house and fell into the lazy boy, grabbing the remote from the table. "You gonna be up for a while, 'Mione? We could watch a movie if you'd like."

"Sure, but first im going to owl Ron, alright?" Sue nodded and Hermione rushed up the stairs. She wrote a quick letter to Ron, attached it to her new owl, Barry's leg, and sent it away to the burrow. The rest of the night was filled with laughter and popcorn as the ladies of number 8 watched Shrek together.

Ronald Weasley was sitting in his room thinking about his friends and wondering what they were doing right now. He figured Hermione was laying in bed, reading or sleeping. Harry was probably sitting in his room, counting down the days until he could get back to Hogwarts. He was just wondering if Hermione wasn't really off snogging in some closet with Vicky, when he heard a noise at his window. He turned to see a Black owl sitting on the sill, and rushed to let it in. The owl dropped a note onto Ron's bed, then went over to pigs cage to steal an owl treat and some water. Not recognizing the owl, he was hesitant to open the letter, but was glad he did once he read it.

_ Dear Ron,_

_I was wondering if you might like to stay at my aunt's house for at least a few weeks. I am staying with her for the summer and am only a few houses away from Harry, at number 8 Privet Drive. He is acting very odd lately. I think that something is going on with him, but he won't tell me what it is. Please come, I could really use your help and would quite like the company! Owl me back A.S.A.P. with your reply._

_ Sincerely,_

_ Hermione Granger_

Ron dropped the note back on his bed and ran into the living room. "Mum! Mum, can I stay at Hermione's for a while?" He asked, seeing his mother sitting on the couch, "She is staying at her aunt's house and is only a few houses away from Harry! Can I mum, please?" he begged.

"Well, I don't see why not. When will you be leaving?" Mrs. Weasley asked her son.

"I'm not sure yet. I have to owl her first. I'll tell you when I find out. Thanks mum!" He said, kissing her on the cheek and racing back to his room to reply. As soon as he got there, her grabbed a quill from the desk in the corner, dipped it in some ink and hastily scribbled a quick note back.

** Hermione, **

**Alright, when?**

** Ron**

It was short, but it got the job done. With that, he attached it to the owl's leg, and sent it back on another journey.

Hermione was in her pajamas, about to get into bed, when Barry flew into her room through the open window. She grabbed the note from his leg, and flipped it over to find Ron's messy scroll and an amazingly short note. She picked up piece of paper and a pen and wrote him another note.

_ Dear Ron,_

_That's great! I could really use your help. If you could come tomorrow, that would be great. Come in any way you can, my aunt knows about the wizarding world, so don't worry about using floo or something. Thank you for coming! I'll see you tomorrow!_

_ Sincerely,_

_ Hermione_

After sending away the note, Hermione turned out the lights and crawled into bed. She was so happy that Ron was coming, that reinforcements were on the way. She was no longer alone in the endless search to discover Harry's secret. She had a friend now, and they would figure it out together.

After receiving Hermione's reply, Ron had run downstairs to find his father. Mr. Weasley was at the kitchen table, tinkering with some muggle device called a Pie-odd (I-Pod) or something.

"Dad?" he asked coming into the kitchen. "Dad, can you hook up the floo to number 8 Privet Drive for tomorrow? I am staying there with Hermione and need a way to get there. It is a muggle residence, but her aunt knows about magic, so she said I could come whatever way I want. Please?" He asked. Mr. Weasley looked somewhat skeptical, but promised to have the floo hooked up to the residence by tomorrow morning. Ron thanked his dad, and then ran upstairs to pack then go to sleep.

By 10 the next morning, Ron was standing by the fire place, getting ready to leave for Hermione's house. He said a few quick goodbyes, then grabbed a bit of powder, stepped into the flames, dropped it, and said "number 8 Privet Drive!"

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End A/N: yes, another chapter posted, I shall take my bow now (TIckLEdoRAngE bows dramatically) and thank you to all of my reviewers, new and old (Turn Signals, bwitched, Daniel Freakz, devilish dragon, trinity4888, pAge-bReaTher, NoteBookLover, and Hayamki!)! If you wouldn't mind, please review again…. Now… or not… you know, whichever…. I'm lying! Review now! Thanks again! 


	5. ICE CREAM!

A/N: just a quick shout out to all of my reviewers: bwitched, Hayamki, Daniel Freakz, devilish dragon, shannyauburn, hotsweetness, NoteBookLover, and Welfycat; you keep me going! And I know I just updated like two days ago, but I couldn't wait. I love writing this story! So…. Here's chapter … 5 is it? Yeah, 5.

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WARNINGS: CHILD ABUSE AND SOME BAD LANGUAGE!

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Disclaimer: Guess what? No really guess. I'm serious, guess! Okay well, you were wrong. I was really gonna say that JKR owns the characters, not me, but 'your brother just ate a bouquet of flower stems' is a good guess too. But that was last week…

* * *

It was about 5 after 10 the next morning and Hermione and her aunt were preparing to go to the hospital to visit Harry. They had been ready nearly 20 minutes ago, but Hermione wanted to wait a little while, just in case Ron showed up and wanted to go with them. Hermione was just about to give up when he showed up in the fireplace. Her aunt was not surprised because, though she herself wasn't magical, her ex-husband's son was. They were married for nearly 5 years and in that time, she got to know much of the wizarding world and its means of travel. As soon as he had stepped out of the fireplace Hermione ran up to him and enveloped him in a big hug.

"Perfect timing for once, Ron." She said, stepping back form the hug, "We were just about to visit Harry!"

"Visit him? I thought he lived only a few houses down?" Ron asked, rather confused.

"Well, he does, but he is in the hospital right now." Hermione explained.

"Oh." Ron said.

"Well we best get going then!" Sue said, marching them out the door and into her car. Ron was incredibly fascinated by the Mustang, as he had only ever ridden in the old ministry cars, and kept wondering how it stayed so shiny without magic. "I just get it washed and waxed like once a week!" Sue said proudly, "I have to keep it looking at its best!"

The short ride to the hospital was filled with comfortable conversation and rock music and by the time they had reached their destination, Ron had a new love of the band 'Fall Out Boy', one of Sue's personal favorites.

"Alright, Ron, if you want to see Harry, you are going to have to be his cousin, Ronald Potter, okay?" Hermione told him.

"Sure, but why?" he asked inquisitively.

"Well, they will only let relatives visit right away, so we have to be his relatives for now." Sue explained.

"Well who are you two then?"

"I am Rita Potter, his mother, and Hermione is Hermione Granger, his sister." The older woman informed him.

"How does that work? Hermione _Granger_, Harry _Potter_?" Ron wondered confusedly.

"Well, Aunt Sue, or _Mom_ I guess, just got over a messy divorce and I still have my father's last name." Hermione said.

"Alright, that makes sense, but how about this: Harry looks nothing like you!" He asked.

"He was adopted." The others answered at the same time.

"Okay, that works." Ron agreed, just as they pulled into the parking lot.

So, Ron, Hermione, and Sue (a.k.a. Rita) walked through the halls and into the waiting room of the hospital. Ron was fascinated by all of the machines and noises that didn't exist in St. Mungo's, as they could do most everything by magic. 'Rita' walked up to the receptionist's desk to find a sweet looking brunette talking on the phone.

"…Yes, the order will be in by Friday. Yes, thank you and have a fabulous day!" she said to the phone. "Hello there, Ma'am, how can I help you?" She said, turning to 'Rita'.

"I was wondering what room a Mr. Harry Potter is in?" 'Rita' asked politely.

"And how are you affiliated with Mr. Potter?"

"I am Rita Potter, his mother, and that there is his sister Hermione and cousin Ron." She introduced.

"Well then, Mr. Potter is in room J15, right down that hall." She answered.

"Thank you very much Miss. Have a great day!" 'Rita' thanked.

"To you as well," the receptionist called to their retreating backs.

The three of them walked down the hallway to Harry's room in silence, all wondering what to expect when they opened the door. When they had finally reached the door, they took a deep breath, and Sue opened it.

As soon as they were in the room, Hermione jumped up and ran over to his seat at the window and tried to give him a hug, but he pulled away before she could get too close.

"Hey Harry, are you feeling better?" Hermione asked him, surprised that he had pulled away so forcefully from her.

"No. I'm not feeling better. Why did you bring me here?" He asked angrily, rising from his seat.

"Harry, you passed out on my porch, hit your head, and then passed out on my couch. I consider that to need medical attention. And I was right. You had a concussion and broken ribs and a fractured ankle." She told him haughtily.

"I told you I was fine. Why didn't you believe me? Huh? Do you not trust me?"

"Well obviously I was right not to believe you!" She screamed at him, "And how did you get those injuries, huh? I know you couldn't have done all that from one fall. What is going on, Harry?"

"I told you, I got in a few fights-"

"Oh don't give me that, Harry. Even you aren't stupid enough to get into fights you can't win, and with the shape you are in right now, you couldn't win a fight with Lavender!" She bit back.

"She's right, mate. But don't take a fight with Lavender lightly, 'Mione. She almost killed Dean last year. She can get rather aggressive." Ron said, speaking for the first time.

After a rather awkward silence between the friends, Harry broke in: "I'm sorry, Hermione, I'm just a little on edge right now. I was supposed to be back to the Dursleys by 8 last night and being gone this long, I won't be able to leave the house for a long time now. Plus I will have like a million chores to do so even if I were allowed to leave, I wouldn't have time to!"

"Well, I am sorry about that Harry, but at least you are alive! If we hadn't brought you here you could have died from the concussion. So don't you dare yell at me for saving your life Harry, don't you _dare_." She said venomously.

"I'm very, very sorry, oh great Hermione Granger. I shall now bow to your greatness and worship you. And form a cult to worship your great greatness with others." He said, bowing as much as his ribs would allow.

Hermione giggled and took a bow of her own, before she asked "So, when do you get to leave here?"

"Well," he began, "they said that I could leave when my mom got here. I'm not really sure who they meant, but I didn't feel like correcting them. I had just woken up and I was incredibly tired. I just assumed they were confused."

"Well, actually, this woman," Hermione pointed at Sue, "her name is Rita Potter, and she is your mother. I am Hermione Granger, your sister, and this is Ronald Potter, your cousin." She finished with a wink.

"Okay, I guess. Does that mean I can leave now?"

"I don't know, _mom_, can you ask a doctor?" Hermione inquired.

"I'll check, sweetie. I'll be right back. Watch your _brother_, Hermione. Make sure he doesn't do something stupid." Sue mocked.

"That may be hard, mum. Everything he does is stupid." At that Harry punched her in the arm just hard enough to make her squeak. Ron was just sitting in a chair by the bed the whole time, laughing his head off, for the most part. Harry finally noticed his other best friend and walked over to him.

"Hey mate, long time no see." Harry said, giving him a small hug.

"Yeah, Hermione owled me and asked me to stay here for a while. I'm staying at her aunt's house. It's pretty cool that she lives so close to you, isn't it? Now we can all hang out together just like back at school." He said happily.

"Well, not quite like at school, but maybe we can hang out a bit. Hey, what do you guys say we just hang out today? I will go back to the Dursleys tonight, they won't really care it's just more chores they don't have to do, and we can just talk or go to the park or whatever!" He said excitedly.

"But Harry, are you sure? You seemed pretty upset about being late from being at the _hospital_, so are you sure you want to be late just to be with us?" Hermione asked uncertainly.

"Well, here is the difference," Harry said, "In the hospital; I am in an unnaturally clean room, with unnaturally clean doctors, and an unnaturally low amount of T.V. channels that do not involve talking animals or ballerinas. With you two, I am with my two best friends, doing something I like to do, and I do not have to watch Disney channel. I think you guys win."

"Oh, but Harry, there is a marathon of Carebears on today. I can't miss that!" Hermione tried to say with a straight face, failing miserably.

"What are Carebears? Or Disney channel? Or teevee?" Ron asked confusedly.

"We'll explain in the car, Ron." Hermione sighed.

"Okay."

The golden trio talked for a little while longer until Sue came in with a smile on her face.

"Guess what, _honey_, you get to go home!" She smiled. "I just have to sign you out and we can leave."

"Hey, _mum_, can we go see a movie? I hear that 'Shrek 2' is really funny." Hermione said.

"But 'Mione, I have no money." Harry pointed out.

"Neither do I." Ron added.

"Well, kids, I think that I can probably pay for you. Don't worry about it." Sue said sweetly.

"Now that that's settled, let's go to the movies!" Hermione announced triumphantly.

Hermione ran all the way back to the car, nagging them the whole time about being too slow.

"Come _on_ you guys! The movie starts in an hour!" Hermione screamed at them

"But Hermione, the theater is barely 10 minutes away!" Sue yelled back.

"Yes, but we want good seats, and lots of popcorn and pop and candy!" She hyped.

"How can the daughter of two dentists eat that much sugar?" Sue asked Harry and Ron as they walked to the car.

"I don't know. She isn't like this at school." Harry marveled, "She is always bugging us about eating too much sugar!"

After a short car ride the four of them arrived at the movie theatre and purchased their tickets. Neither Harry nor Ron had ever been to a movie theatre before and they were both very excited.

"We would like 4 Cherry Cokes, 2 Cadbury bars, 2 boxes of Sour patch Kids, 1 box of Gummy bears, 1 box of Snowcaps, and a large tub of extra-buttery popcorn." Hermione said, to the amazement of all those present. "Now what would you three like?" She asked jokingly. When they still just gave her blank stares, she added an exasperated, "I was kidding, goodness. Way to take a joke." Sue then paid for their food and they all helped to carry it into the theatre.

After the movie was over, the four of them went back to the car, carrying their extra snacks and still laughing from the movie.

"I loved puss. He was so adorable. And he had such cute little boots!" Hermione said as they drove back to Privet Drive.

"I really liked Donkey. He was hilarious!" Ron exclaimed.

"Who was your favorite Harry?" Hermione wondered.

"I don't know I liked them all." He said nonchalantly.

"Well, where to now?" Sue asked the teens.

"ICE CREAM!" Hermione screamed.

"Hermione, we just ate like 30lbs of candy, how much more sugar can you handle?" Ron asked amazed by how much sugar one girl could consume.

"So, there is always room for more." She answered.

"How about we wait a bit, Hermione. We don't want to overdue it, you know." Sue asked.

"Well, I guess so. So what _do_ you guys want to do?"

"Why don't we just go home and watch a bit of T.V.?" Sue said.

"Good idea!" Hermione interjected, "And we can have some ice cream!"

The whole car groaned.

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End A/N: okay, just a quick FYI to you, the whole 'Lavender almost killed Dean last year' thing, is not based from anything that actually happened in the 4th book, I just kinda felt like adding it. Also, I realize that 'Shrek 2' would not be out yet in HP world, but it's my story and I can do whatever the hell I want to it! HAHAHA!

TIckLEdoRAngE


	6. Back To The Dursley's

A/N: okay, thanks to: NoteBookLove, pAge-bReaTher, devilish dragon, Daniel Freakz, and Hayamki. I hope this chapter is better than the last!

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WARNINGS: CHILD ABUSE AND SOME BAD LANGUAGE!

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Disclaimer: Guess what? No really guess. I'm serious, guess! Okay well, you were wrong. I was really gonna say that JKR owns the characters, not me, but 'your brother just ate a bouquet of flower stems' is a good guess too. But that was last week…

* * *

As they pulled into Sue's driveway, Harry glanced out of his window and immediately ducked to the floor.

"Harry, what are you doing?" Hermione asked.

"Shhhh! Look the other way. Pretend I'm not here!" He ordered.

"But why?" Hermione asked, looking out the windshield at an oak tree.

"Uncle Vernon is outside. I can't let him see me or he'll make me go home right now, and I am not ready to be back in that house yet!" Harry said fearfully. "Just get out of the car and go inside. I will go in when he is gone."

"Well, we can just stay in here with you then." Hermione suggested.

"No!" Harry said, "That would look suspicious. Just go. I'll see you shortly."

The others did as they were told and Harry was left alone in the car. About five minutes later he looked out the window and saw, with relief, that Aunt Petunia and Dudley were getting into Uncle Vernon's running car, and he was already in the driver's seat. Harry ducked down again and waited about 3 more minutes before popping up again. When he checked next, the family was gone and the coast was clear. He opened the car door and walked up to the house. He knocked on the door and Hermione immediately answered.

"Oh thank god! I was starting to think they got you! Well come on in. We were just watching 'Friends' on T.V." She said.

"What no Carebears?"

"It turns out the marathon ended at noon." She said with fake disappointment.

"Oh darn." Harry said, "I really wanted to see if Sharebear learned to laugh again."

"Oh don't worry, he did." Hermione explained.

"Good, I was so worried." Harry grinned before both he and Hermione burst out laughing. Ron just continued to look at them as if they were insane and shake his head.

"If you two are done going insane, then please shut up. The show is coming back on!" Ron said.

"I think Ron has a bit of a crush on Rachel," Hermione whispered to Harry. He laughed but couldn't help but wonder who Rachel was.

So the golden trio and Aunt Sue all watched numerous T.V. shows and later on, around 5, they ate ice cream. They ate and talked and enjoyed each others company. Even later, at 8, they ate a delicious dinner of cheeseburgers and chicken nuggets. Harry ate so little that even Ron noticed, and we all know how unobservant he is. They didn't say anything about it though.

After dinner they decided to watch the original Shrek, as Ron and Harry had never seen it. Finally, around 11, the movie ended and they all decided it was time for bed. Harry noticed, to his disappointment, that the Dursleys had returned from their afternoon adventure and were now back at number 4, awaiting his arrival. He said a grim goodbye to his friends, telling them that he would see them later, but not quite sure he would. He slowly made his way back to his so-called-home and his cruel and satanical relatives.

When he reached the house, he saw with a small amount of hope that all the lights were off.

'_Maybe they already went to bed! Maybe I won't get beat until tomorrow!_' He thought happily. Luck, however, was not with Harry that night. As soon as he walked in he saw uncle Vernon standing by the stairs with the whip in hand. Harry just stared at his uncle's frighteningly purple face, too scared to move a muscle.

"Close the door." Uncle Vernon hissed vindictively. Harry quickly did as he was told. "Now come here." Vernon said in the same tone. Harry obeyed yet again, and immediately regretted it. He felt the sting of the whip hitting him, one after another, causing more and more pain each hit.

After about ten hits, Vernon stopped and ordered Harry to remove his shirt. He did and Vernon saw his expertly bandaged torso and ointment-covered wounds. "What is this?" he demanded.

"I-I… umm…"

"Don't make me beat it out of you boy!" He yelled.

"The hospital! I was at the hospital!"

"And how did you get there?"

"I-I passed out in the park! Somebody found me and took me to a hospital, they thought I had had a heart attack or something. The doctor bandaged my ribs and stuff and told me I had to stay for the night. He let me leave around 10:30pm today. I came straight back here!" He urgently explained.

"Who would care enough to take you to the hospital, boy? Nobody would care that much about a disgusting urchin like you." Vernon spat.

"I-I-I d-don't know, Uncle Vernon. I never m-met them." Harry stuttered.

"Well, boy, you are gonna have hard night. Now get on the floor! And take off those bandages, you don't deserve them."

Harry painfully took off the bandages from around his ribs and lay on the floor.

"Who said you could lie down? No, you will get on your hands and knees and take this like the freak you are."

Vernon then began whipping the poor teen yet again, but without the padding, it hurt a million times more than before. After a while Vernon announced that he was going to bed and that Harry was to sleep in his cupboard. Harry crawled in the cupboard under the stairs and lay down on the makeshift bed he had slept in only 4 years earlier.

The following morning Harry was awoken at 5:00 to begin his chores. He had a lot of them. Not only did he have today's chores, but also the ones from the day before, plus the punishment of doing them all in pain. He did the outdoor chores first, as usual, beginning with the mowing. Half an hour later he moved on to weeding, then watering and feeding the plants.

After that he went inside and made breakfast. As another part of his punishment, he got no banana for the day, but managed to sneak food again, this time a waffle. He ate it quickly and cautiously and managed to finish and get back outside before the family came down to eat.

He did the last few outdoor chores and went inside to begin his vacuuming, dusting, and disinfecting. Since he had to do the whole entire house and all the closets and cupboards as well, Harry cleaned all day, only breaking to cook lunch and dinner.

At about 10 that night, Harry finally finished. Then he got his nightly beating, and went to sleep in his cupboard. This was how the next two weeks went.

Finally, on a Saturday, Harry got a break. The Dursleys had a rendezvous at Uncle Vernon's office, and left Harry home alone the whole day with no chores. They did, however, lock the front door, back door, kitchen, and their bedrooms so he couldn't get in. Plus they took the batteries out of the remote so he couldn't watch T.V., not realizing that there were buttons on it that did the same as the remote. So Harry was left all alone for a day of R & R, which he should have guessed wouldn't last.

Hermione and Ron were sitting around, trying to think of something to do.

"We could play battleship." Hermione suggested.

"No, I suck at that game! I think we should play chess." Ron groaned.

"But the whole time we play you just complain about having to move the pieces yourself! Why don't we play Monopoly?" She brainstormed.

"No, we already played that, plus it takes forever."

"You are just mad because you lost!" Hermione said.

"That was not a fair game! You cheated!" Ron argued.

"Well you should have figured that out before! Goodness, I'd think you would have realized that I wouldn't get twice as much by passing go just because I was the wheelbarrow!" She sighed.

"Well, how was I supposed to know?" He asked angrily.

"Instructions."

"Do you know me at all Hermione? Like I would take the time to read the instructions. Sheesh." Ron huffed.

"What _do_ you want to do then Ronald?" Hermione inquired.

"Let's go see Harry!" Ron exclaimed.

"You know we can't, Ron." Hermione said sadly, "I want to as much as you, but we could get him in more trouble than he is in already."

"Well, can we go to the park then?" He asked pleadingly.

"Okay, let's go." Hermione said.

"YAY!" Ron exclaimed.

So Ron and Hermione walked down the road to the park. The two swung for a while, then slid, and even did the monkey bars. Hermione felt like she was 4 again and really enjoyed herself. After they had been in the park a little while, though, Hermione looked down the road to see Harry's porky cousin, beefy uncle, and horse-like aunt climbing into their family car, then taking off down the road. Hermione turned to Ron and called him over from the jungle gym.

"Hey Ron, come here!" she called.

"What's up?" He asked once he had run over.

"I think Harry's family left. He might be able to come out, if they didn't give him too many chores!" She said happily.

"Should we go over and see?" Ron asked.

"Yeah. Even if he does have chores, then maybe we could help

him out a little. At least we could talk." Hermione explained.

So Ron and Hermione took off down the road to find their friend.

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End A/N: Like I said, I hope you like this chapter… I'm not quite positive when the next chapter will be up, but it shouldn't be too long. Please review, flames are welcome as well… 


	7. A CUPBOARD!

A/N: okay, thanks to: NoteBookLove, pAge-bReaTher, devilish dragon, Daniel Freakz, Estel A Duath, and Down Play To Murder. So… Chapter 7 is HERE (and rather short... sorry bout that...)! Hope you enjoy it!

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WARNINGS: CHILD ABUSE AND SOME BAD LANGUAGE!

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Disclaimer: Guess what? No really guess. I'm serious, guess! Okay well, you were wrong. I was really gonna say that JKR owns the characters, not me, but 'your brother just ate a bouquet of flower stems' is a good guess too. But that was last week…

* * *

Harry was just relaxing and enjoying his time off when he heard a knock at the door. He looked out the window to see Ron and Hermione standing on the front porch waiting for an answer.

"Hermione! Ron!" He called through a semi-open window in the living room. They looked around and spotted him, before running over to the window.

"Hi Harry!" Hermione said cheerfully, "Now I know you said not to come right to the door, but I just saw your relatives leave and figured it was safe."

"Well that's okay, but I'm sorry, I can't get out." He said sadly.

"Why not?" The others both asked.

"The Dursleys locked all of the doors out except for the kitchen one and I can't get into the kitchen because it's locked as well." Harry explained.

"Harry, does the kitchen lock from the inside?" Hermione asked.

"Well, yeah. Otherwise I would be able to unlock it. Why?"

"I think you can get out. Come on Ron." She said.

"But 'Mione, if the door is locked and he can't unlock it, how will he get out?" Ron asked her dumbly.

"You idiot, we can go in through the kitchen door, unlock it from

the inside, and then Harry can get out through the door! Duh!" Hermione said exasperatedly.

They walked around to the side of the house and found the door to the kitchen. It was unlocked as Harry had said, so they walked right in and through the annoyingly clean room and to the door on the other side. They unlocked it easily enough, and walked right through it into the living room, which was just as clean.

"Wow this place is so clean." Ron said disgustedly, "How do they do it?"

"They don't do a god damn thing around here. It's all me." Harry said angrily.

"How do you do it then? It's really kind of creepy how clean everything is. I feel like I'm in St. Mungo's or something." Ron said.

"So Harry, do you want to come out with us? We haven't done anything in weeks and we miss you." Hermione begged.

"Yeah Harry, come out and play!" Ron said childishly.

"I'm sorry guys, but I don't think I can. They didn't say what time they would be back and I don't want them to catch me out again. I may be able to come out by Monday anyways! I promise that as soon as I can I will hang out with you guys again, but right now I can't. I'm very sorry, but could you please leave? I just really don't want to get into any more trouble right now."

After his two friends left, Harry crawled into his cupboard and lay on his 'bed'. He was about to fall asleep when he heard the back door open again and Hermione walk back in.

"Sorry Harry, but it seems my earring fell out and I need it back." She said walking back in the room. When she saw him jump out of the cupboard, she asked "What were you doing in there?"

"Ummmm…. Nothing, 'Mione, now what does this earring look like?" He asked, trying to change the subject. It didn't work.

"Oh my goodness, Harry!" She said, looking into the cupboard, "This is tiny!"

Hermione examined the cupboard for a few minutes, saying the whole time how small it was, until Ron walked in, wondering what was taking her so long. "Geez Hermione, how long can it take you to find one stinking earring?" He asked, then he noticed her sticking her head in the cupboard. "Hermione, what are you doing in the cupboard?"

"Look at this, Ronald, look how tiny this cupboard is!"

"What are you on about now?" He asked annoyed, but walking over all the same.

"This cupboard Ron, Harry was sitting in this cupboard. Look at how small it is!" She raged. "And look at this, all his cloths are in here. And his photo album. And his calendar." Suddenly both his friends turned around to face him. "Harry, do you live here?"

"Yes Hermione, I think that we have already covered that I live in this house, next question please." He said sarcastically.

"I mean _HERE_ Harry. Do you sleep in this cupboard?" She asked angrily.

"Well… yes… but why does it matter? I slept in there for the first 10 years of my life with the Dursleys. I can handle it for a little while." He answered truthfully.

"Wait a minute Harry, you slept in there until Hogwarts? They can't put a child in a cupboard. They could have gotten into some big trouble with child services if they had found out." Ron told him, sounding very Hermione-ish.

"It doesn't matter, Ron. I will only have to sleep in there for a while. It's just part of my punishment for being gone so long. I'm not going to die because of it. I will get my room back soon, I hope." Harry told them.

"But Harry-" Hermione began.

"Just let it go, please?" Harry pleaded.

"Well, fine, but we will talk about this another time, Harry. Don't think you're off the hook." Hermione said.

"Yes _mom_." Harry answered. "But can you guys please leave? I really don't want you to get caught in here."

"Well, alright, we just need to find Hermione's earring, and we'll be gone." Ron said.

"Oh, here it is!" She yelled.

"Okay guys, I will see you in a couple days, hopefully." Harry said quickly, adding, "Make sure to lock the kitchen door on the way out!"

"Okay, Hermione, do you think there is something he isn't telling us?" Ron asked as they walked back to Sue's house.

"You picked up on it too?" She asked.

"Yeah, and I'm scared. Whatever it is, it's big. I can tell."

"I know, and I'm pretty sure it has to do with his family. I mean, who locks a kid in a cupboard?" Hermione said.

"And what kid is okay with that?" Ron asked.

"The kid who knows nothing different." Hermione said sadly. "I knew Harry didn't have the perfect life at the Dursleys, but I never would have guessed he slept in a cupboard!"

"Well whatever is up with him, we can figure it out." Ron said comfortingly.

"Your right, we have enough clues to figure out the big problem! Enough puzzle pieces to make the picture!" she said determinedly.

"Harry could be in danger here and you want to do a puzzle? Way to be a good friend Hermione." Ron said sarcastically.

"It was a metaphor Ronald, geez, lighten up!"

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End A/N: Well, that was chapter 7… did you like it? Well if so, review and inform me of your opinion! One more thanks to all my reviewers: you keep me going! If it weren't for the reviews, I would probably only be on like chapter 3 right now. You rock my world! Now do it again! 


	8. Research and Answers

A/N: okay, thanks to: NoteBookLove, pAge-bReaTher, devilish dragon, Daniel Freakz, welfycat, animegurl088, Cillyme, and Little Miss Mione. Here you go… CHAPTER 8! (makes fake crowd-cheering noise)

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WARNINGS: CHILD ABUSE AND SOME BAD LANGUAGE!

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Disclaimer: Guess what? No really guess. I'm serious, guess! Okay well, you were wrong. I was really gonna say that JKR owns the characters, not me, but 'your brother just ate a bouquet of flower stems' is a good guess too. But that was last week…

* * *

Ron and Hermione immediately set to work figuring out the proverbial puzzle which was Harry's home life. They began by writing down everything they knew about.

"Alright, what do we know?" Hermione asked herself, pulling a notebook and pen out of the desk drawer of her room. "Let's see… we know he had strange injuries, a lot of chores, basically their slave, constantly worried about being late, very little food, lived in a cupboard, and scared of his family … anything else?" She asked Ron.

"I think that is about it. Anything we can put together right now?" He asked.

"Well, little food and living in a cupboard, that could mean childhood neglect, that could even be why he doesn't trust anyone now, at least not easily. And the chores are basically because he has always been their slave so he has to do a lot of them." Hermione analyzed.

"Yeah, that would make sense, but what about the injuries?" Ron asked.

"Well, I have some suspicions, but we need to do a bit more research and such before I can prove it."

"What do you think?"

"I don't know yet, and I don't want to alarm you, so I want to get a bit more proof before I say." Hermione said intelligently.

"But-"

"Please Ron, just wait a bit."

"Alright, Hermione. If you say so." Ron said.

After a few hours of silent thought and research, Hermione was almost sure that her suspicions were true. She had thought from the start that this could have been child abuse, and now she was nearly positive that that assessment was true. She didn't tell Ron, because she knew he would get mad and worried and do something stupid, like try to kill Harry's uncle (a fight which he would surely lose due to Vernon's bulk) or get Harry into trouble by going over there and confronting them and/or trying to kill his uncle along the way. Either way Harry probably wouldn't last till morning, which is exactly why she didn't tell the temperamental red head of her suspicions. Now that she was sure though, she wasn't sure if she should tell him or not. He might still do something rash, but all the same, he deserved to know as much as she did.

Deciding to tell him, she looked over to find him asleep on her bed, snuggling up to Seniorita Fuzz-Fuzz, her stuffed cat with the straw sombrero that she had received for her 7th birthday, and took with her everywhere. Not that she would ever admit to anyone that she still slept with a stuffed animal. She even put a disillusionment charm on her at school so nobody would find out. Ron looked so cute cuddling with Seniorita Fuzz-Fuzz that Hermione decided not to wake him, allowing him to have the animal for one night. She quietly walked down the hall and up the staircase to his room, instantly falling asleep on his bed.

"AHHHHHH!" Harry screamed as the whip came down on him again, burning his bare flesh and bringing more tears to his eyes.

"THAT'LL TEACH YOU SOME RESPECT YOU WORTHLESS PICE OF SHIT! NEXT TIME I ASK YOU TO BRING ME A SODA, YOU WILL DO IT, AND DO IT QUICKLY!" Vernon screamed at the poor child before him.

"B-but Dudley, he tripped me on the way in! It wasn't my fault!" Harry cried out."Don't you _dare_ bring my son into this. You are not even fit to speak his name, you filth!" Vernon spat, hitting the boy harder.

"I'm sorry! I will be quicker next time, it was my own fault, im sorry!" He sobbed.

"DAMN RIGHT IT WAS!"

"Please stop, please, I'll be good I swear… I swear." Harry continued to beg until his throat was as raw as his back.

"We'll leave it there for tonight boy, now get into you're room. You have to wake up in 4 hours to start your chores." Vernon left him sobbing on the floor in a pool of his own blood to bandage himself up and get a little sleep.

After about 3 ½ hours of rest, Harry was rudely awoken yet again by Petunia shoving him off of the bed and yelling at him to 'get his lazy ass up and get to work'. He didn't bother to shower, figuring that he would be allowed to leave today if he finished his chores early enough, and deciding to save the shower until he finished. By the time that he had to make breakfast, Harry had completely finished his outdoor chores, and only had about 3 hours of indoor chores. He was excited to say the least. He had never had this much free time! So after finishing breakfast and eating his orange (they ran out of bananas), he headed straight for the attic to arrange the boxes of stuff alphabetically (a few days ago he had to arrange them chronologically), then, after completing that in 45minutes, he went into the living room to vacuum and then to the basement to dust and disinfect everything.

Around 11 that morning, Harry had finished his chores and was just relaxing in his room (yes, they had returned his room to him the night before) when Vernon walked in. Harry shrank back from his uncle, but did not get hit or even touched. The man just asked why he wasn't working.

"Well, sir, I have finished all of my chores for the day, so I just came up here to lie down, if that is okay." Harry asked timidly.

"Really boy, how is it that you got done so quickly today? Did you use the 'M' word (magic) by any chance?" Vernon asked menacingly, a fire lighting in his eyes.

"N-n-no S-s-s-sir. I just worked extra hard. I learned my lesson last night. I wanted to b-be quicker this t-t-time." Harry answered respectfully.

Vernon began laughing loudly. "Yes, and so you have. Well, you may have the rest of the day off boy, you may even go out if you'd like, but be back by 8 tonight." Vernon said before thumping the boy on the back a lot harder than could be considered friendly, and exiting the room. Harry automatically went into the bathroom to change and shower, before leaving to go to Hermione's house.

That Morning At Hermione's:

Hermione woke up to a bright and sunny day shining through the window of Ron's guest room. She arose and went into her room to find the red head still sleeping in her bed with Seniorita Fuzz-Fuzz, and sucking his thumb. Hermione quickly grabbed her digital camera from the desk and took numerous photos of him, before filing them away on her laptop to save, if need be, for later use.

After that, she went to her dresser and found a pair of bright green shorts, and a yellow shirt that said 'Save The Trees' in the same color green. She took a shower and got dressed to find Ron still asleep in her bed and decided that it was time for him to wake up. She ran downstairs and got a pitcher of ice cold water and took it up to her bedroom.

"Wake up Ron," she said softly. He groaned but didn't awaken. "Wake UP Ronald," she said a little bit louder. "Ronald Bilious(sp?) Weasley, if you do not wake up right now, I will not hesitate to take desperate measures to get your ass out of bed." Still no response. Without a second thought, Hermione took the pitcher and dumped it on his head.

"BLOODY FUCKING HELL!" He screamed. "What the hell was that for?"

"I said I wouldn't hesitate. You should have listened to me. Now get up, take a shower, and get dressed. I think I know what is up with Harry."

"Really? What is it?" He asked.

"First shower. You smell like a dead goat."

After Ron was showered and dressed (tan cargo shorts and a light blue T-Shirt with a surf board on it) he and Hermione sat down for breakfast alone, seeing as her aunt was at work.

"Ron what do you want for breakfast?" Hermione asked, going through the cupboard. "We have pancake mix, stuff for French toast, toast, cereal, pop tarts, and….that's about it." She listed.

"I'd like to know what is up with Harry, that's what I'd like." Ron said disgruntled.

"Sorry, we're all out of that."

"Seriously 'Mione." He said.

"We can discuss it over breakfast, now what do you want." She said.

"French toast."

"Sorry, I can't make French toast, pick something else." Hermione told him.

"Fine then, pancakes."

"Can't make those either."

"Can you just tell me what the hell is wrong with our friend?" Ron pleaded.

"Oh, fine. We'll eat later." Hermione grunted, sitting at the table.

"Now what is up!" Ron yelled.

"Okay Ron, this will shock you, make you mad, and scare you to no end, but I think you have a right to know. Are you ready?" He nodded. "Alright. I'm pretty sure that the Dursley's are abusing Harry." She told him. They both sat there for a moment , waiting for it to sink into his head, then suddenly:

"THOSE BASTARDS! I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL THEM!" Ron screamed at no one in particular.

"Ron. Ron. Ronald, calm down alright?" Hermione said, forcing him back into his seat.

"HOW CAN I CALM DOWN WHEN MY BEST FRIEND IN THE WHOLE BLOODY WORLD IS BEING ABUSED BY HIS BLOODY 'FAMILY'?" Ron asked outraged.

"I am upset too, Ron, but being mad doesn't help anything. We need to calm down and come up with a way to confront Harry. He will never speak to us again if we do something without asking him, or at least talking to him about it first. You know how he is. He wants to keep his home life a complete secret; he thinks he needs to handle it on his own. We need to show him that that isn't true and we can help him. But before any of that happens, before we can save him from this, we need to calm down and come up with a _rational_ approach to this undoubtedly horrific conversation we are going to be having. Are you calm now?" She asked him.

"Not quite." he said, closing his eyes and massaging his temples. "Okay. Now I'm good."

"Okay. Well, to begin, we will want to try and get him to tell us what is wrong, before we ask him about it. We should just give him one last chance to tell us himself. If he won't, that's when we tell him that we know. He will probably get scared and a little bit spastic, then he will most likely try to deny it or leave. Or maybe even both. After we calm him down again, we will need to ask him what he wants to do about it. After we have discussed it, we can probably do something fun, like play Monopoly, or go to the park, or play battleship, or maybe even look at the pictures of you I took this morning that I could probably sell to Fred and George and make a hell of a lot of money off of…" Hermione said, thinking.

"What was the last one?" Ron asked.

"Ummmm…Battleship?" She asked innocently.

"Nope, it was something about pictures…" But he was cut off by a loud knock at the door.

"I wonder who that could be. It's only 11:30, I wasn't expecting anyone…" She said, answering the door. "Oh… Hi Harry!"

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End A/N: okay… I don't know Ron's real middle name, but that is what most people use so I decided to use it as well… I hope you liked chapter 8 and if you would please review, you'll get chapter 9 a lot quicker… (grins and laughs maniacally) **cough**… just review, alright? 


	9. Confrontations

A/N: okay, thanks to: NoteBookLove, pAge-bReaTher, devilish dragon, Daniel Freakz, welfycat, Blood Suns, and bwitched. So… chapter 9, right here!

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WARNINGS: CHILD ABUSE AND SOME BAD LANGUAGE!

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Disclaimer: Guess what? No really guess. I'm serious, guess! Okay well, you were wrong. I was really gonna say that JKR owns the characters, not me, but 'your brother just ate a bouquet of flower stems' is a good guess too. But that was last week…

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"Oh… Hi Harry!" Hermione said, opening the door and allowing her friend in. "What's up?"

"Well, not much. I just had some free time and decided to come and visit. Hey Ron." Harry said, noticing his other best friend sitting on the couch.

"Hey Harry." Ron said, trying his best to act normal.

"Harry, have you eaten yet?" Hermione asked, "Because I was just about to make Ron and I breakfast, if you'd like some."

"How on earth are you gonna make breakfast 'Mione? You can't cook." Ron asked.

"Well… I can still make cereal!" Hermione said defiantly.

"What do you guys want?" Harry asked, "I can cook."

"Ummmm… okay… we were thinking French toast." Ron answered slowly.

"Okay, give me about 10 minutes." Harry said, quickly walking into the kitchen.

The other two went into the kitchen as well to wait for their food. As they watched Harry, they were pleasantly surprised at how expertly he cooked. Almost as if he had been doing it all his life._ 'I wouldn't doubt it'_ Hermione thought.

About 8 minutes later, they were all enjoying the delicious breakfast Harry had created for them. All except for Harry. He hadn't even touched his.

"What's wrong Harry?" Ron asked him, "Aren't you hungry?"

"Not really, I already had breakfast." He answered.

"Oh you ate your _banana_ already?" Hermione asked.

"I didn't have a banana for breakfast. I had an orange." Harry said defensively.

"And when and what did you last eat?" Ron inquired.

"I had an apple yesterday at around… I think 2?" Harry said, trying to remember.

"God Harry, you're such a pig. How can you eat that much?" Ron said sarcastically.

"It doesn't matter!" Harry said. "I'm not hungry. End of story."

"But Harry, it's not healthy to eat that little." Hermione said a worried expression on her face.

"Okay. If I eat the damn food will you leave me alone?" Harry asked, getting agitated.

"On that subject, yes." Hermione said, only allowing Harry to hear the last word.

"Alright." He said, taking a hesitant bite of the food. He took another. And another. He continued eating until the whole plate was empty.

"Well, now that we are done eating, why don't we go upstairs and talk?" Hermione asked.

"Talk about what?" Harry asked.

"Stuff." Ron answered, as he and Hermione dragged Harry up the stairs. He wanted to protest, but was too tired and weak to do so, so he allowed himself to be taken.

"So…" Ron started once they were in Hermione's room.

"So…" Harry repeated.

"Okay, Harry… umm… me and Ron… umm… we were just wondering… ummmm… what is going on at the Dursleys. We know something is up Harry, why won't you tell us what it is? We want to help you; we just need to know what you need help with." Hermione asked, bringing up the dreaded topic.

"Hermione, Ron, nothing is going on. This is the same as any other summer. I don't need your help with anything. I'm fine. Just fine." Harry lied. He didn't know why he wouldn't tell them. He was just afraid that they would laugh at him, or make fun of him. He, the great Harry Potter, couldn't even fight off a stupid muggle like his uncle. He couldn't stand the thought of losing his best friends because they thought that he was a wimp. That would kill him.

"Harry, we know you're lying to us. We know that there is something wrong." Hermione said, making one last attempt at getting the truth out of him. Harry still didn't spill, so she just came out and told him. "Harry, me and Ron, we have been doing some research, you could call it, on your home life. We took what we knew and evaluated the possibilities and we came to one conclusion." She said. Harry was starting to pale. "Harry… the Dursleys… do they… I mean… ummmm…"

"Harry, do they hit you?" Ron asked uncomfortably. "I mean, do they _abuse_ you?"

"WHAT!" Harry yelled, looking between his two, obviously uncomfortable friends. "No, no. Nothing is going on, I swear. Nothing. I don't know what led you to that conclusion, but you are wrong."

"But Harry, all of your injuries, the fear of your relatives, it all points to abuse. You cannot ignore the facts." Hermione said.

"I t-t-told you. I-I got into a f-fight." He stuttered nervously, "And I am not scared of the D-Dursleys."

"Harry, you are not dumb enough to get into a fight you can't win, and I'm sorry, but you are in no shape to be fighting with anyone right now." Ron said. "And obviously you are scared of them, as you are constantly watching the time to make sure you aren't late."

"So… I like to be punctual." Harry mumbled.

"Or maybe you are just scared you'll get a beating from your uncle if you don't get back in time." Ron said angrily. "God Harry, we have you cornered here! Why can't you just admit it and allow us to help you! We are your friends Harry! We want you to be safe, which is obviously not happening in that house!"

"I DON'T CARE WHAT BLOODY RESEARCH YOU HAVE DONE, I AM FINE! MY UNCLE ISN'T ABUSING ME AND I AM PERFECTLY SAFE THERE. Why would Dumbledore have sent me there if it wasn't safe? Ever think of that?" Harry said, obviously in denial. He didn't know if he was trying to convince them or himself. He got the feeling it was the ladder.

"Harry, please. We want to help you." Hermione sobbed, "I don't know why Dumbledore sent you there, but you know as well as we do that you are not safe. You have to do something before this gets worse. He could kill you if this doesn't stop, Harry! Do you really want to die?"

"I don't have to sit here and listen to this. I am fine, and you two can just keep your 'research' and 'theories' to yourself. I'm leaving. See you guys later." And with that he left. Hermione just broke down crying on the floor as soon as he was out the door. Ron tried to comfort her as well as he could.

"Shhh, Hermione, he will be okay. He can't take this much longer, I can tell. He hates lying. We will get help, even if we do so without his consent." Ron said.

"I hope you're right Ron. I couldn't live with myself if something happened to him." Hermione cried.

"Why don't you lie down, 'Mione. You look exhausted." Ron told her.

"Yeah. I think I will. You don't mind do you?" She asked.

"No, of course I don't. Sleep well." He said, leaving her in her room.

Harry was worried, angry, nervous, and somewhat disappointed in himself as he walked back to number 4. He wanted to tell them, he really did, but he was so scared. He knew it was futile to deny it. They knew and they wouldn't back down anytime soon, but he just couldn't bring himself to admit it. He was nearly in front of the house, when he decided that he didn't want to go back, so he went to the park instead. He checked his watch and realized that he still had almost 7 hours left until he had to be back. He sat down on the swings and started to think.

Maybe he should go back to Hermione's and tell them the truth. Maybe he should get help, maybe use Barry to owl Sirius, and tell him what's going on. There were a lot of things he should do, but Harry just couldn't bring himself to do any of them. Maybe the Dursleys were right. He was a freak and a wimp. Maybe he deserved what he was getting.

He snapped out of his daze when he saw a familiar face walking towards him yet again. "Hey Ron." He said.

"Hi Harry. What're you doing?" Ron asked.

"Sitting."

"Oh. Mind if I sit too?" He wondered.

"It's a free swing set." Harry answered.

After a few minutes of silence, Ron said: "You know, you made Hermione cry."

"I know, and I feel like an ass for doing it." Harry answered truthfully.

"She just wants to help you know. Same with me. We are worried about you."

"Well, don't be. Whatever is going on at the Dursleys is my business and mine alone. You two don't need to get involved. Now can we just drop it?" Harry begged.

"Fine, Harry. Just fine. I'm going back; maybe Hermione is awake by now. See ya." And with that Ron left Harry alone to his thoughts yet again.

That night Harry was so preoccupied by all that had happened that day, that he burnt dinner, ran into Dudley in the stairwell (though he was pretty sure it was Dudley who ran into him), and almost spilled Aunt Petunia's tea all over the living room floor. He was not at all looking forward to his session with his uncle that night, where he would most likely pay for all his blunders.

Sure enough, after Vernon had returned from his nightly visit to the bar, Harry got the beating of his life.

Vernon threw him against the bedroom walls, whipped him, stepped on him, punched him, kicked him, and threw things at him. He then whipped him again and threw him half way across the room into the closet door, where he passed out.

Harry wasn't sure how long he was passed out, but when he woke up, his uncle was gone and he was alone and broken in the room. He knew he had broken at least 3 ribs, most likely his arm and ankle as well. It was then that Harry finally admitted to himself what he had really known all along: He needed help.

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End A/N: so… im sorry to say that the next update will probably take like a week, because up until this point the chapters have been pre-typed, and I'll actually have to type the next few up before I can post again, but it still should only take a week at most so…. Yeah… review please, they make my fingers type quicker! 


	10. I'm not fine

A/N: okay, thanks to: NoteBookLove, pAge-bReaTher, devilish dragon, Daniel Freakz, welfycat, and trinity4888. Chapter 10, coming your way!

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WARNINGS: CHILD ABUSE AND SOME BAD LANGUAGE!

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Disclaimer: Guess what? No really guess. I'm serious, guess! Okay well, you were wrong. I was really gonna say that JKR owns the characters, not me, but 'your brother just ate a bouquet of flower stems' is a good guess too. But that was last week…

* * *

Ron and Hermione were sitting in the living room of number 8 Privet Drive watching T.V. yet again. Sue was still in London, working on her court case. She had left the day before, apologizing many times for leaving, but really she couldn't help it. The Wreichester case had been moved up so Ron and Hermione were left alone. Together. With no adult supervision whatsoever. And you know what their favorite thing to do was? Watching T.V. and discuss what to do about their friend. 

"Hermione, stop fretting, alright? If things get too bad, he will come to us. And if he doesn't, we can tell the Order, or call the muggle cops, or Dumbledore." Ron said for the millionth time that night.

"I know, but what if we're too late?" She asked anxiously.

"He will be fine okay? Just say that to yourself and stop worrying. 'Friends' is back." Ron told her before becoming engulfed by the television.

"Whose idea was it to put 'Friends' on at 3 in the morning anyway?" She asked him. He ignored her, however, and continued to watch the show. She was about to tell him that they should go to bed, when she heard a knock at the door. Seeing as how it was 3 in the morning, Hermione was rather scared to open the door, for fear that there would be some mad axe murderer outside. Ron picked up on this, and told her that he would open the door. What they saw on the other side made them gasp.

"HARRY!" Hermione screamed the panic evident in her voice.

"Oh god, what happened?" Ron asked, seeing the state of his friend. Harry looked dreadful. His arm was pointing out at a rather _odd_ angle, he was limping horribly, and he was so covered with cuts and bruises, that you could hardly see his face. Harry tried to walk in, but he fell right through the door, onto Hermione's living room floor.

"I lied." Harry gasped, using most of his strength. "I'm not fine. You were right. I'm sorry." He said in his raspy voice, before slipping into the blissful world of unconsciousness.

"Oh god!" Hermione shrieked, tears pouring down her face once again.

"I'll call an ambulance. What's the number? And how do you work this thing?" He asked walking to the phone.

Hermione rushed over, pushing him out of the way and calling the number herself. "Send an ambulance to number 8 Privet Drive immediately!" She said to the operator. "Yes, there is an unconscious victim, probably broken arm, many other injuries." Hermione waited a minute, listening to the other end. "Thank you, thank you so much." With that she hung up the phone. "The ambulance will be here in a few minutes."

"That's good, but what do we do until then? We can't leave him laying halfway through your doorway, can we?" Ron asked.

"I'm not sure." Hermione answered hesitantly. "If he has any serious back or neck injuries, we could make them worse by moving him."

"I don't think he did, otherwise he would have fallen way before he got here. C'mon, they won't be able to get through if he is blocking the doorway." Ron said.

"Well, alright. But let's do it carefully." She said, kneeling down to help Ron lift him. She was sickened to discover that he was even lighter than the last time this had happened. Ron apparently noticed as well, due to the look on his face.

They successfully transferred him to the couch without agitating anything and within mere minutes the ambulance appeared. The siren and lights caused many neighbors to come outside and see what was going on. The Dursley's did as well, but, realizing that it was no one important (they couldn't see Harry), they went back into their house and slept. The other neighbors did the same.

After Harry was on the stretcher and in the ambulance, the medic told them that only one could come into the vehicle with him.

"But we both need to see him!" Hermione screamed indignantly.

"I'm sorry, miss, but those are the rules. Why don't you have someone bring you?" He said.

"Because," Ron said, losing his patience, "We are here alone. Come one! We're small! We can fit!" He said.

"I'm sorry, but either one of you gets in the vehicle, or we're leaving without either of you. My first responsibility is to my patient, so get in or move away, because we need to get to the hospital." The medic said angrily. When neither of the kids moved, he closed the doors and drove away.

Hermione and Ron stood dumbfounded, watching the ambulance drive away with their best friend. They were suddenly stuck with a new problem: How the hell were they gonna get to the hospital?

"Well, maybe we could walk?" Ron asked unsurely.

"No, it's too far. Who could we ask?" Hermione asked herself.

"I don't know." Ron said.

"Oh, I know!" Hermione suddenly exclaimed. "Mrs. Figg!"

"Who is-"

"She is this sweet old woman who lives down the road. She

always used to give me popsicles when we visited in the summers. I know that she'd give us a ride." Hermione answered happily.

Hermione and Ron walked quickly to Mrs. Figg's house and knocked on her door. The kind old woman answered and ushered them in to talk.

"Mrs. Figg, we were wondering if you could drive us to the hospital." Hermione asked, after they had exchanged greetings.

"So I'm assuming it was Sue that was in the ambulance?" Arabella asked worriedly.

"No, actually it was one of our friends from school." Ron said, "Harry Potter."

Arabella Figg's face paled at that. "It wasn't You-Know-Who was it?" She asked fearfully.

"Oh, heavens no!" Hermione assured. Then a thought struck her. "Wait a moment, you know about You-Know-Who?"

Mrs. Figg, realizing her slip, tried to change the subject. "So you two need a ride to see your friend?"

"Are you a witch?" Ron asked, astonished.

"Well, a squib actually." She answered, giving up on keeping her cover.

"Wow." Hermione said, "I never would have guessed. But lets focus on getting to Harry right now. Can you drive us, please?"

"Yes, yes let's go." Mrs. Figg said, grabbing her keys off the table.

When Ron, Hermione, and Mrs. Figg got to the hospital, they weren't surprised that they had to wait for word on his condition.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, what did happen to Mr. Potter?" Mrs. Figg asked.

Ron and Hermione exchanged a glance, wondering if they should tell her or not. After a minute, Ron finally spoke: "We aren't really sure, but we think his uncle beat him up."

The old woman looked incredibly surprised by this. "I know that Vernon disliked the boy, but I don't think he would go that far." She explained.

"Well I think you're wrong." Ron said angrily. "Harry has had odd injuries for weeks and he pretty much told us when he came through the door that they abused him."

"Did he actually say this or are you just jumping to conclusions?" She asked.

"He's right, Mrs. Figg. Harry told us. We confronted him and told him what we thought and he said we were right." Hermione said meekly. Mrs. Figg was about to respond when a doctor came into the waiting room, looking for Harry Potter's 'posse' if you will.

"Well, Mr. Potter has broken his left arm, his left ankle, and a few of his ribs. He also has numerous open wounds on his back, torso, and some bruising and cuts on most of his body." The doctor said. He allowed a moment to let the information to sink in before continuing. "Now, are you Mr. Potter's family or guardians?" He asked them. They all shook their heads. "Okay, do you have any idea how he got these injuries?"

"We… We think his family might be abusing him." Ron said.

"That is indeed the same conclusion many of our doctors have come to. Who is this boy's family?" The doctor asked.

"Vernon and Petunia Dursley. They live at number 4 Privet Drive." Hermione answered.

"Very well. You will not be able to see Mr. Potter tonight, so I suggest that you all go home and have a good night. I will call Child Services to investigate his home life." The doctor said before walking back down a long corridor, probably to Harry's room.

"We should probably tell the order." Hermione said as they walked back to Mrs. Figgs car.

"We can do it when we get to my house. I'm attached to the floo network. We could go over and tell them. This is the kind of news that should be delivered in person." Mrs. Figg said as they got into her car.

"So sorry to just drop in on you Sirius, but we have urgent news." Mrs. Figg said as she, Ron, and Hermione walked through the fireplace of 12 Grimmauld Place, aka the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, at 4:45 in the morning.

"No problem at all, but couldn't it wait until morning?" He asked sleepily.

"It is morning." Hermione told him.

"Nope, that's where your wrong, 'Mione." Ron said, "It is not considered morning until about 11. And I thought you were the smart one."

"Well no matter what time it is, we have some urgent news." Arabella said.

"Why? What's going on?" Remus Lupin said, coming down the stairs.

"They have news Remus, now shut up." Sirius said, listening intently.

"Hey, where is Harry?" Remus asked. "I figured if you two were here, especially with Arabella, Harry would be here as well."

"Yeah, where is he?" Sirius asked. "Wait, is this about him? Did something happen? It wasn't Voldemort, was it?" Everyone else flinched when Sirius said His name.

"No, no, nothing like that." Hermione said.

"He's just in the hospital." Ron said.

"WHAT?" Sirius asked.

"Calm down Sirius." Remus said gently, "We'll just go to St. Mungo's and see him."

"Actually, he's in the muggle hospital again." Hermione said.

"Why is he in a muggle hospital?" Remus asked.

"What do you mean 'again'?" Sirius asked.

"Oh, right, no one told you…" Ron said.

"Told us what?" Sirius asked.

"Well, Harry kinda passed out on my porch a few weeks ago. I couldn't wake him up so I called for an ambulance. He was only there for one night then he was back home. It was no big deal." Hermione said.

"Uh-huh. And what about this time?"

"Well, umm, hey Ron! Why don't you take this one?" Hermione asked, knowing what Sirius's reaction would be to hearing his godson had been abused.

"Okay… but before I do, I want to explain what led up to it." Ron said, thinking it would be easier to comprehend after hearing a bit of background.

They relocated to the kitchen and Remus got them all drinks, giving Hermione, Ron and Mrs. Figg butterbeers, while choosing Firewhisky for Sirius and himself.

"Alright, to begin, the reason Harry passed out at Hermione's is because he was hungry. He said that his relatives only gave him a banana so far that day. That was at 5pm. He had been awake since 5:45am. That was when Hermione started suspecting that something was up. After they took him to the hospital and came home, Hermione owled me to have me stay with her." Ron said.

"But how did that work?" Remus asked, "I wasn't aware that Hermione lived anywhere near Harry."

"I am staying with my Aunt Sue for the summer. She lives at 8 Privet Drive, right by Harry." Hermione explained.

"Right. So when I went to stay with Hermione, she said that the doc at the hospital said Harry had several other injuries that couldn't have been caused by the fall. He had broken ribs, a sprained ankle, and a lot of cuts and bruises. We asked him what happened and he said he got into fights. We didn't believe it, but let it go for then. After we left the hospital, we had a day of fun before Harry went back to the Dursleys that night. Harry was not allowed to leave the house for two weeks and he had more chores than usual. They also took away his room so he had to sleep in a cupboard. We went over one day, after the Dursleys had left, to talk to him. He wouldn't come out, for fear that they would find out he was gone, but we went in. We talked a bit then he told us to leave in case they came back. Hermione dropped her earring while we were in there and had to go back in and get it. She went in to find Harry sitting in the cupboard. When asked about it he said that he had slept in it for the first 10years of his life with the Dursleys, and it was just part of the punishment. After that me and Hermione did some research and came to a startling conclusion."

Sirius and Remus were on the edges of their chairs, their Firewhisky forgotten.

"We think that they _abused_ Harry." Ron finished.

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End A/N: yay! i updated at my regular ionterval of 3 days! i will probably not take any longer than that for the rest of the story so... yeah... alright... so i have the next few chaps typed, and I'm sorry to say, that there will probably only beabout 3more chapters to this story. sigh well, there will probably be a sequel and stuff soo... yeah... REVIEW REVIEW! (please) 


	11. You can't kill him

A/N: Thanks to my 4 reviewers (NoteBookLove, pAge-bReaTher, Daniel Freakz, and devilish dragon) you rock hard core to the 5th power! Chapter eleven, coming your way!

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WARNING: CHILD ABUSE AND BAD LANGUAGE!

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DISCLAIMER: NOT MINE! DEAL WITH IT!

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"WHAT?" Sirius shouted maniacally, "THAT BASTARD OF A MUGGLE WAS ABUSING MYGODSON! I'LL KILL HIM. WHERE THE FUCK DOES HE LIVE!" 

"Calm down, Sirius. You will not kill anyone. At least not right now. Do you really want to go back to Azkaban just when Harry needs you most?" Remus, ever the voice of reason, asked.

"No… but Moony… I can make it look like an accident…"

"Just let it go Sirius. Anyways, yes, he is in the hospital right now, and we can't see him until tomorrow morning. He broke his left arm, his left ankle, and a few of his ribs. He has a lot of cuts and bruises too." Ron said calmly.

"Well what is anyone gonna do about Dursley? He surely can't get away with this. And no, Sirius, you can't be the one to do anything." Sirius glared at his best friend.

"We told the doctor that we suspected child abuse and he agreed. We told him where the Dursleys lived and their names and he said he would send over a social worker." Hermione said.

"But why didn't you take him to St. Mungos?" Sirius inquired, having finally finished trying to rationalize murder.

"Because," Hermione explained, "we didn't know that anyone was hooked up to the floo and we had no other way to get him there. We just had to call to get him to a muggle hospital. He desperately needed medical attention, so we got what we could."

"Alright, so when can we go see him?" Sirius asked.

"Tomorrow." Ron answered.

"You can't go anywhere, Sirius." Remus said quickly, "You know what Dumbledore said, you have to stay here. You are still an escaped convict, even if Harry's in the hospital."

"But Moony, he's my godson! Lily and James said that _I_ had to take care of him. I just _have_ to see him!" Sirius begged. At Remus' still skeptical look he continued. "I will be snuffles the whole time, and I will be good and quiet and I'll stay out of sight. PLEASE?"

"Well…" Remus began.

"PROFESSOR LUPIN!" Hermione scolded, "You can not let him go! It will put him in danger, as well as the rest of us. Like you said, Dumbledore-"

"Does it matter what Dumbledore said? He also said that Harry would be safe at the Dursleys and he was obviously wrong about that. Who's he to say that Sirius can't go see Harry in the hospital, when he was the one who caused the need to arise?" Ron ranted heatedly.

"I agree with Ron one-hundred percent! Pleeeeaaaaassssseeeee let me go Moony, please?" Sirius asked, getting on his hands and knees and bowing down.

"Oh get up you mutt." Remus said, obviously incredibly annoyed, "You can go, but you have to be Snuffles, alright?"

"Thank you Remy!" Sirius cooed.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…"

The following day Ron, Hermione, Remus, and Snuffles went to the hospital to see Harry (Mrs. Figg had to take her cats to the vet). When they got there, they asked the receptionist, a cute little red-headed girl in her early twenties, where Harry's room was. After finding this out, they walked down to the room to find a doctor exiting.

"Hello, are you here to see Mr. Potter?" They nodded, "Well, I am sorry to say that we don't allow dogs into patients rooms, so if you would please take him outside-"

"The dog stays." Ron said venomously.

"But that is incredibly unsanitary, and I must insist-"

"Let the dog in!" Harry said, from behind the partially opened door.

"Mr. Potter, I really think-" The doctor tried again.

"I don't give a damn what you think, the dog comes in." Harry answered, leaving no room for argument.

Seeing that he was defeated, the doctor just gave a nod and walked away.

"Spineless little wimp, isn't he?" Ron asked.

"Just a bit." Harry said with a grin. "Hello Professor Lupin, Snuffles."

Hermione ran up to him and gave him a hug. "Oh Harry. I'm so glad your okay! But, god, you-are-such-an-idiot!" She scolded, hitting his good arm with each word.

"Good to see you too, 'Mione." He said sarcastically.

"Really, Harry, why did you have to wait until you were half dead to admit you had a problem?" She asked, bewildered.

"Okay, first of all, I was not half dead. A few broken bones, a few bruises, nothing big." He answered, "And second of all, if you hit me again, I can call the nurse and have you escorted from the building." He joked.

"Ha-ha-ha. That was so funny, I forgot to laugh." Hermione said flatly.

"I can see that you're feeling better." Remus said.

"Very much so professor, thanks for noticing." Harry said happily. "So…" He started again, "The Dursley's… do they know I'm gone?"

"Well, we don't know. We told the doctor about… you know…" Ron started.

"My home life?" Harry tried.

"The abuse." Ron said, "He said he had suspected it, because of the injuries, and we gave him their names and their address. He said he would get social services right on it."

Harry looked somewhat troubled by this. "But won't that mean that I'll go into the muggle system? I will just go into some god forsaken orphanage or something like that. I would really rather not have to do that."

"We can probably get Dumbledore to pull some strings." Remus reassured. "You won't go into the system Harry, I promise. You will most likely end up living at H.Q. with Snuffles and I. Don't worry."

That calmed a few of Harry's suspicions. "Snuffles come here boy!" He said, patting a spot on his bed for the animagus to sit. Sirius, of course, didn't object and jumped up.

"So, when can you leave?" Hermione asked.

"I think they said I can leave in a few days. I'm pretty much fine now, but they want to watch to make sure that my bones set right and stuff." He answered, scratching Snuffles behind the ear.

"I can't wait till you get out!" Ron said happily. "Maybe me and 'Mione can stay at H.Q. with you! This could be a pretty good summer! Despite the…er… _rocky_ start."

"Yeah that would be fun." Harry said, but he actually thought he would rather have at least a little time to himself, to get over this, before he had to socialize again.

Remus picked up on this. "Well, maybe after a little while you could stay, but we should at least let Harry get moved in and know the house."

Harry was unbelievably grateful for that.

The rest of their visit carried on with very lighthearted topics and much joking and laughing. Around 7 that night Harry's visitors left, but only after being kicked out, seeing as it was past visiting hours. They all promised to be back the next day, WITH the dog, much to the doctor's disappointment.

They all stayed at Sue's house; because she still had some extra bedrooms and it would make their trip back in the morning easier. Once there, the adults said they were leaving.

"Where to?" Ron asked.

"We're going to tell Dumbledore about Harry, if he doesn't know already, and ask him about the Dursleys and Harry's housing arrangements and all the other things we have questions about." Remus told them. "We'll be gone probably 3 hours."

"Alright." The kids answered together.

"You two seem a bit eager to get us out of the house…" Remus said with a sly grin.

"Yeah, what are you planning to do with this alone time?" Sirius asked with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. Ron and Hermione looked at each other, and quickly looked away, blushing.

"N-nothing!" Ron squeaked.

"Okay Sirius, quit pestering the kids. Whatever they want to do when they are all alone, with no adult supervision, and probably 3 hours until anyone comes back is up to them." Remus said, causing them to blush further.

"Alright kids, just remember to use protection and if you're gonna be at it for more than 3 hours, put a hat on the doorknob so we don't come in. I'm sure Arabella has a few spare bedrooms. You two have fun!" Sirius said, before turning into snuffles and leaving with Remus.

Ron and Hermione stood in an awkward silence for a while after the others left.

"Ummm… do you want to watch T.V.?" Hermione asked, breaking that silence.

"Yeah, sure." Ron answered, "Maybe 'Friends' is on!"

"You are definitely considered obsessed, Ron." Hermione sighed.

"Yeah, but you love me anyways." He said playfully. This however, brought back the previous comments from Remus and Sirius, and they both blushed again and sat down on separate sides of the room to watch T.V. in silence.

Sirius and Remus were still laughing (though you couldn't really tell with Sirius being a dog) when they got to Mrs. Figgs house to use her floo. They went inside and Remus talked to the old woman for a few minutes before grabbing a bit of powder and throwing it into the fire. He and Snuffles both walked into the fireplace and Remus said their destination (Headmasters office, Hogwarts) and they disappeared.

Albus Dumbledore was just sitting in his office when his fireplace roared to life and out stepped a man with sandy blonde hair and a tired expression as well as his dog.

"Remus, Sirius, welcome. You can change Sirius." He said.

"Thank god. I really don't like traveling by floo to begin with, but it's even worse as a dog." Sirius said.

"Yes, but at least you can be a person now." Remus told his best friend.

"Yeah…"

"So what brings you to my office?" Dumbledore asked.

"We have some things we need to discuss." Sirius said seriously.

"And what might they be?" Dumbledore inquired.

"Well, first of all, do you know about Harry?" Remus asked.

"You mean about the abuse?" Dumbledore asked sadly.

"Yes. How did you find out?" Sirius wondered.

"Arabella Figg cam and saw me earlier today. No one is more upset by this situation than I, but I believe we can sort this out." Dumbledore explained.

"So what is going to happen with him? Where will he live?" Remus asked.

"I was actually thinking about having him live with you two, if you don't mind. If not, I'm sure that the Weasleys wouldn't mind another." Dumbledore said.

"Of course we don't mind. That's what we were hoping for!" Sirius half-shouted, but he was quieted by Remus.

"Calm down!" He scolded.

"Fine, but what about the Dursleys? What will happen to them? Or more like him. Vernon." Sirius said venomously.

"I'm not sure. There is some debate about whether they should have a magical trial, for hurting a wizard, or a muggle trial, as they are muggles. Either way Harry will have to talk in court. We may need testimonies from Ron and Hermione as well, seeing as they are the ones who figured it out." Dumbledore said.

"Can I kill Vernon?" Sirius asked innocently.

"No, no, that wouldn't be a good idea, Sirius." Dumbledore said.

"Oh, but I can make it look like an accident, I promise I won't get caught." Sirius begged.

"No Sirius."

"Please?"

"NO SIRIUS!" Both Remus and Dumbledore said at the same time.

"Oh… fine…"

They talked the rest of the time about small details and the case, little things of that nature, before Sirius and Remus decided to leave. Sirius turned back into Snuffles and followed Remus into the fireplace, and they were off.

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END A/N: Soooo... how was it? review and tell me what you think. Next update will be by saturday! 


	12. Pardon My French

A/N: so... yeah... here's the chap! thanks at the end!

WARNING: CHILD ABUSE AND SOME BAD LANGUAGE! THIS STORY IS PRETTY MUCH AU AS WEL, SO... YEAH...

DISCLAIMER: not mine. at all.

"I think we're a little early." Remus said as they exited Mrs. Figgs house.

"Rarr rar woof!" Sirius barked.

"What?" Remus asked, utterly befuddled. "Sorry, I don't speak dog. They never offered that at Hogwarts."

They walked the rest of the way in silence until they got to Hermione's front door.

"Do you think it's safe to just go in?" Sirius growled a firm 'no'. "But they've had nearly 2 ½ hours!"

From his canine companion's glare, he took the hint and knocked anyways. Nobody answered so he knocked again. When nobody answered that one, he decided to just go in.

He walked in to see Ron and Hermione, watching a movie on the couch.

"Hey!" Hermione shouted as they walked in the door. They automatically noticed why they didn't answer the door: The movie was louder than in a theatre!

"Did you even hear us knocking?" Remus yelled, wondering how on earth they couldn't hear the movie from outside.

"What about stockings?" Ron yelled.

"Never mind!" Remus yelled exasperatedly.

The two adults joined the kids in front of the television set to watch the movie.

"What are we watching?" Sirius yelled.

"I think there's some in the kitchen!" Hermione answered, obviously not hearing him correctly. Remus decided to turn it down a little.

"Hey, what'd you do that for?" Ron asked angrily.

"So I can actually hear myself think."

"Yeah, thinking is a rare occasion for Remus anymore (you know he's nearly 50) so he needs to hear and cherish every thought he has left." Sirius told the kids.

"I am not 'nearly 50'. I'm 35! And you're the same age!"

"Nope, I'm 34. You are 3 months and 17 days older than me. My birthday is in two weeks, so you are technically closer to being 50 than I am." Sirius said childishly.

"Oh I give up!" Remus sighed.

"So what are you two crazy kids watching?" Sirius asked.

"Oh, we were watching 'Grease'." Hermione informed him. "How was your visit with Dumbledore?"

"It went pretty well. He already knew about Harry and he said that he will most likely live with Remus and I. He will, however, have to go to court to testify against Vernon, and we may need you two as well." Sirius told the teens.

"Well, at least he'll be out of there." Ron said, sighing.

"But what kind of trial will they have?" Hermione asked.

"Dumbledore thinks it will be a muggle trial, but he isn't quite sure. He would prefer a wizarding trial, but as the muggle child services and such are already involved, it may be hard to do." Remus explained.

"Why would he prefer a wizard one?" Ron asked.

"Probably because A) we could use veritaserum to prove it quicker and B) the jury is less likely to be unfair to Harry." Sirius said.

"But then won't they be more unfair to his uncle?" Hermione inquired.

"Does it matter?" Ron and Sirius asked at the same time.

"Well, they may be a bit harsher when he is convicted, seeing as it _is_ Harry Potter, the-boy-who-lived, but the wizarding world thinks Harry is a fruitcake right now, after he said You-Know-Who was back, so the trial should be pretty fair." Remus told her.

"I hope that it is a wizard trial as well." Ron said sleepily. "I just want this to be over quickly, and veritaserum can make that happen."

"Why don't we all go to bed? It's pretty late and we want to be up bright and early to visit Harry." Hermione suggested.

"Alright, just tell us where we are staying." Remus said.

"You, Remus, will be in the room across from Ron's and Sirius will be in the room next to it. Alright? Ron will show you where to go. Sleep well!" Hermione informed them, going off to her room while the boys went to theirs.

The next day they went to visit Harry again and found that he already had a visitor.

"Hello Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley." Professor Dumbledore greeted as they entered the room.

"Hello Professor!" The two said in unison.

"Why hello there, Albus. Fancy seeing you here!" Remus said as he and Snuffles entered the room.

"Yes, yes, I was just informing Harry of what we discussed last night. But I have some good news! We were able to pull a few strings and get a Wizarding trial instead of a muggle one. Plus we can have Harry here moved to St. Mungo's." He told them all with a smile.

"That's great! You will be healed much faster there!" Hermione exclaimed.

"And that is great about the trial, Albus." Remus said happily. "When will it be?"

"Well, we may be able to get one by as early as Thursday, which is only three days from now."

"That quick?" Asked Hermione, clearly impressed.

"Well I am Harry Potter, The Chosen One, The Boy-Who-Lived!" Harry said pompously.

"Oh give it up, Potter." Ron said in mock-exasperation.

"Yeah, you're not that great." Hermione added.

"You try surviving an encounter with a dark overlord at the age of 1 and see if you feel differently then!" Harry said, before cracking up. The other two teens joined the laughter.

"The trial shouldn't last long, what with veritaserum and such, so you should be moving in with Remus and Snuffles by Monday." Dumbledore told him. "Well, I must be off. I need to make sure of the court dates and finalize your move."

"Thank you professor. I'll se you in a few days!" Harry said to his retreating back.

"See you later." Dumbledore said, before walking out the door.

"I can't wait until I move into H.Q.!" Harry exclaimed a minute later.

"Yeah, you'll get to live with me!" Sirius said happily.

"And me!" Remus added.

"Don't scare the boy away, Moony. If you don't want to live with him, we can always have that taken care of." Sirius stage whispered to Harry. "I know this great hit wizard, a cousin of mine, actually!"

Remus hit Sirius in the back of the head. "Shut up, you're not going to have me killed. Now go back to being Snuffles, you're a fugitive!" Remus said exasperatedly.

Sirius grudgingly transformed into the black dog, and Harry laughed with his friends at the older men's antics. "I think it'll be… what's the word… _interesting_ living with you two." Harry chuckled.

"You'll never be bored, I can assure you. Not with this crazy mutt around." Remus said, pointing at Snuffles rolling around on the floor. Snuffles's ears went back and he bit Remus's ankle, clearly showing his resentment towards that statement.

"Oh fine, fine. You are a perfectly sane purebred, not a crazy mutt, is that better?" Snuffles backed off as if to say 'yes' and Remus just rolled his eyes.

"So Harry, when did Dumbledore say you would be moving to St. Mungos?" Hermione asked.

"Probably tomorrow. I can't wait. I'll be healed there in a second!" He said happily. "I miss being able to get out of bed, but they don't want me to because of my ankle and ribs. They say that with my ribs broken I won't have enough upper body strength to use crutches, not to mention the arm. And I don't want to use a wheelchair. I hate those things."

"Well, you can't complain about not being able to get out of bed if you refuse to use a wheelchair. You _could_ get out, but your just to damn stubborn to!" Hermione scolded. "Pardon my French." She added, realizing she had cursed.

"I hate that saying, '_pardon my French_', I mean, you aren't even speaking French!" Ron said.

"Well, just for that you will be hearing it a hell of a lot more often. Oh, _pardon_ _my_ _French_." Hermione said, saying the last part slowly.

"Oh, you're asking for it now." Ron said heatedly.

"Oh damn, I am? Pardon my-"

But she never got to finish her sentence, as at that moment, Ron lunged at her pinning her to the wall playfully.

"Promise me you'll never say it again, at least not when I'm around." He said, not letting her go.

"NEVER!" She screamed defiantly.

"Promise."

"NO!"

"Promise!"

"NOOOOO!"

"Promise or I'll never let you go!"

"HELL NO!"

"Hermione!"

"OH FINE." She huffed. "I promise."

"Good." Ron sighed.

"Oh but Ron?"

"Yes, 'Mione?"

"Paaaaardoon myyyyy Freeeeeench." Hermione said slowly, causing him to chase her around the room, but she was faster than him, and right now it seemed more likely that would get kicked out than that she would promise anything.

"Awwwww, look at the two little love birds!" Harry cooed, earning two _very_ dirty looks.

"Shut UP Harry." Ron and Hermione said, stepping to opposite sides of the room and glaring at him.

"Hey, it ended the chase." Harry said simply.

"Ha ha ha, that was so funny I forgot to laugh." Ron remarked dryly.

"But you just said 'ha ha ha', which I believe constitutes as laughing, what do you think Hermione?" Remus asked.

"I agree 100 percent, Professor Lupin." She said.

"How many times do I have to tell you, call me Remus."

"Sorry, Pro- I mean Remus."

"That's better."

The rest of their visit was filled with much playful banter, and the phrase 'pardon my French' was used more than most would think possible. Ron didn't appreciate that, oddly enough, but dealt with it. By the end of their visit, Harry felt better than he had in a while, and was _very_ excited to be moved to the Wizarding hospital the next morning.

END A/N: first off, thanks to develish dragon, welfycat, notebooklove, Estel A Duath, Jayme, and C K Brook for their reviews. They are very much appreciated. Also, the next chapter will be the last of this story, and the sequel won't be up for a bit, but if you'd like an e-mail when i post the first chap of the sequel, leave your address in your review in this chap or the next and I'll be sure to tell you. thanks, and i'll see you again in a few days!


	13. The Trial and Epilogue

A/N: okay, thanks to: NoteBookLove, pAge-bReaTher, devilish dragon, Daniel Freakz, welfycat, C K Brook, and cheeky devil from hell. So… chapter 13… the last chapter… **sob…**

WARNINGS: CHILD ABUSE AND SOME BAD LANGUAGE!

Disclaimer: Guess what? No really guess. I'm serious, guess! Okay well, you were wrong. I was really gonna say that JKR owns the characters, not me, but 'your brother just ate a bouquet of flower stems' is a good guess too. But that was last week…

Harry was healed at St. Mungos, and was going to stay one night to allow his body to heal completely. He didn't mind it so much, seeing as he had his friends there to comfort him, but he really wished he could be moving in with Remus and Sirius. They decided he would be able to move in as soon as he left the hospital, seeing as how he needed a place to stay, even though they hadn't gone to court yet, and he was extremely happy about that.

For the day Harry was in St. Mungo's the Weasleys and Hermione stayed with him and the atmosphere was a bit, shall we say, _downtrodden_ if you can believe that. Molly Weasley cried when she first got there, sobbing about how badly he had been treated and that he deserved so much better. After they had finally gotten the matriarch calmed down, nobody quite knew what to say. There was an awkward silence like no other! Finally, Ginny spoke up and tried to strike up a light conversation.

"So…errr… Harry… umm… how about that… errr… _great_ weather we've been having?" She said lamely.

"Quite nice, actually. It hasn't been too hot… so… that's good…" He answered.

"That's good… so it's been good in Surry as well?" She continued, happy to have the silence broken.

"Yeah…" Harry answered, before another silence began, as the weather is not a subject that can hold up a conversation for very long. "So… Gin, how was your summer so far?"

"Pretty good. I did some flying… homework… things like that…" She said, wondering what else to say. They all knew how his was, but she decided to ask anyway. "So how was _your_ summer… besides the… you know…"

"It was actually pretty good as far as summers go… you know… with my friends coming and all… it was better than most." He answered.

"That's good."

"Yeah. Plus I'm finally out of that hell hole, so this is probably the best summer I've ever had! At least that I can remember." He told her with a smile.

"That's great! Hey, maybe later in the summer you can come and stay at the burrow… you know, once you're settled into the house and everything… and we can even throw you a birthday party!" She said, glad to have struck up some happy conversation.

"Cool. I've never had one before, so that could be fun." He said happily.

"Yeah… mum could make you a cake and we could have streamers and good food and presents!" Fred said, breaking the silence from the rest of the family.

"Oooh. I _love _mums cake. It's delicious. We'll make this year you're best birthday yet!" George said, drooling a little at the thought of cake.

"Oh I'd love to make a cake for you dear! What flavor would you like. I can make just about any flavor you could think of. And what is your favorite food? That's what we'll have for dinner. Oh and Ginny could decorate. She is marvelous at that. And all without magic too!" Ginny grinned and took a small bow at the compliment. "And what kind of ice cream do you like best? Well, I guess that'll depend on the flavor cake. What flavor would you like dear?" Mrs. Weasley said very quickly, going into planning mode.

"We can figure that out later, Molly. Harry's birthday isn't until the end of the month! We have nearly 3 ½ weeks to plan!" Arthur Weasley told his wife.

The conversation continued of plans and such for the rest of the summer, and Harry was really enjoying being in the company of those he considered his real family. Around 7:30 a nurse came in and forced the Weasleys and Hermione to leave and allow Harry his rest. They did, but not until after the nurse threatened to call security to escort them out. They all promised that they'd see him, and went on their way.

Harry went to Grimmauld Place the next day after Remus and Professor Dumbledore picked him up from St. Mungo's and could never remember feeling better than he did walking through the doors onto the house. It wasn't that the house was that pretty or homey, because it was really a very dark, dusty, dirty old house, that he learned had been Sirius's childhood home, but he was just so glad that he would never be forced to return to the Dursley's that he didn't really care what it looked like. As long as he was there with people he cared about, he thought it to be nicer than Number 4 had ever been.

Even with magic, however, Harry's healer hadn't been able to completely heal his ribs, so he was still condemned to bed rest for two days to insure that the healing potions had taken full effect when he was released. Remus and Sirius were more than happy to bring him his food (which he didn't eat much of, much to their disappointment) and help him to the bathroom and anything else he may need, but Harry really hated being treated as a child and was incredibly happy when his bed rest was over. That was, coincidentally, the same day as his trial, and he was awoken early that morning by Sirius's gentle shaking.

"Wake up Harry, wake up." He said quietly, trying not to startle him. "It's a big day today, time to wake up."

Harry suddenly awoke and jumped nearly a foot high before falling on the floor and putting his hands over his head in fear. Sirius felt awful about scaring the poor boy and rushed over to help him up.

"Shhh, Harry, it's just me, Sirius. You're fine, it's alright." The man said soothingly. Harry looked up at him, and Sirius was startled to see tears in his emerald green eyes. "Harry, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, Sirius. Just a bad dream." Harry said quietly, taking Sirius's proffered hand, and getting off the floor.

"Harry-"

"I said it was just a nightmare. No big deal. Let it be." He said, grabbing some overly-large cloths from his trunk (which Dumbledore had brought over) and heading to the bathroom to shower and prepare for the day in court.

"Bring the accused into the courtroom now, please." The head of the court said, and moments later two aurors escorted Vernon into the courtroom from his ministry holding cell. "Veritaserum please." A young man, of about 22, walked in with several small vials of truth serum and walked up to the front of the courtroom. "Alright, let's get this trial started, shall we? The case of Harry Potter vs. Vernon Dursley is now in session." And with that the trial was on.

The young man took a vial of veritaserum to one of the aurors who had brought Vernon in and he administered the three drops necessary before stepping back and allowing a member of the court to come up and begin the questioning.

"What is your name?" Was, of course, the first question asked.

"Vernon Michael Dursley."

"How is Mr. Harry Potter related to you?"

"My wife's sister's son. My nephew."

"How long has Mr. Potter been in your care?"

"Almost 14 years, since he was a year old."

"Have you ever hit or in any other way abused Mr. Potter since he was put into your care?"

"Yes." The whole court gasped.

"In what ways?"

"Well, I hit, kicked, whipped, threw, stepped on, cut, burned, and threw things at the boy."

"H-how long has this b-been going on for?" The questioner asked, completely stunned by the information he was receiving.

"Since he was around 3 years old."

"Why did you do these things to your nephew, Mr. Dursley?"

"BECAUSE THE BOY WAS A FREAK!" Vernon yelled, "Ever since he was born, we knew the boy would end up as a magical freak like the rest of you and we wanted to beat it out of him. I always figured that we could beat a bit of normalcy into him." The whole court was, shall I say, royally _pissed_ _off_ by this statement, and many colorful words were shared between the occupants of the chamber.

"Did you do anything _else_ to your nephew while he was in your care?"

"We gave him many chores, he did all the cooking, cleaning, yard work, and anything else that had to be done."

"About how old was Harry when you began giving him all these responsibilities?"

"Cleaning the house when he was 4, cooking at 6, and the yard work began around 7."

"How often did he receive breaks or meals during this busy work?"

"He got a banana for breakfast, around 6am, and a piece of bread and glass of water at dinner time, about 7pm. He only got breaks when he finished all his chores."

"Where did Mr. Potter sleep?"

"He slept in the cupboard under the stairs until he left for that bloody school of his, at which point we moved him into Dudley's second bedroom, the smallest in the house."

"Why did you move Mr. Potter?"

"Because we were scared that if we didn't, one of _his_ kind would attack us for mistreating the boy."

"Alright," the questioner sighed, "one final question: during the 13+ years that Mr. Potter was under your guardianship, did you ever show him love or care?"

"Of course not. That boy was a freak who didn't deserve it. He deserved nothing and that's what he got."

"That is all."

"The court will take a 20 minute recess and when we resume, we will hear from the plaintiff." The head said loudly as chatter began to break out.

I will not go into exact detail about Harry's questioning under the truth serum, as it will be pretty much the same thing as Vernon's, so we will just skip over that part of the trial and go straight to the second recess, as the court decided the verdict of the case.

"It's alright Harry, don't worry, it'll be fine. There is no way that you can lose this case." Hermione said soothingly, as Harry seemed to be scared stiff about the verdict.

"Umm, Hermione?" Ron said, hearing her, "Harry isn't scared; it's just that the veritaserum hasn't completely lost its effect yet. It will probably wear off in the next minute or so, though."

"Oh… right…" Hermione said, blushing at her blunder.

"Is it done?" Harry asked shakily, obviously exiting his trance-like state.

"Yes, yes, the court is deciding the verdict as we speak." Remus told him.

"Oh, good." Harry told him. "Do you think I'll win, Professor?"

"Call me Remus, Harry. It's been over a year since I was your professor, and to answer you question: I don't think you can lose."

"That's good. Thank god."

"Order, order in the court!" The head of the court yelled, causing silence to wash over the crowd of people awaiting the verdict. "We have come to a conclusion. We find Mr. Vernon Dursley guilty under charges of child abuse and neglect. He will be sent to a muggle prison in Surrey and serve a 12 year sentence. Court is dismissed."

Harry couldn't believe his ears. He was free; he was actually free from his uncle and he was going to live with his godfather and Remus. It was almost too good to be true! Almost.

"OH MY GOD!" Hermione screamed; "Harry, you WON! You don't have to go back to the Dursley's again. I'm so happy for you!"

"Good job, mate! It's over." Ron said, slapping him lightly on the back.

"Ready to go home, Harry?" Remus asked him.

"Yes, please, Remus. I think I need to lie down."

"Yeah, veritaserum tends to have that effect on people. It's a very strong potion, and it definitely gets tiring to have your mind manipulated into telling the truth." Remus explained.

"See ya Ron, Hermione." Harry said, turning to his friends.

"See ya Harry," They answered in unison.

"I will owl you later in the summer to make some plans to hang out and such, alright?" Ron asked.

"Will do." Harry responded, before turning and leaving with Remus.

EPILOGUE!

The rest of Harry's summer went really well. He had some time to himself to think, but Remus and Sirius never gave him enough to brood, as they always seemed to be blowing things up or setting things on fire (though most of the commotion was caused by Sirius, Remus just helped) and, as Remus had promised, he was never bored.

For his birthday, the Weasley's did throw Harry a party, with a chocolate cake and chocolate chip ice cream, and he enjoyed it immensely.

After his birthday, Harry did begin doing more things with his friends and even stayed at the burrow for a bit, before returning to Grimmauld Place, but with his friends in tow.

All in all, Harry decided, what may have started out as a BAD summer, really ended up his BEST summer ever.

End A/N: that was the very end of 'A BAD Summer.' I know. I'm sad too. Well, the next story will probably take a month or 2 to get up so…. Yeah…. I'll e-mail you when I first upload it so… yeah…. Thanks to all of my great reviewers. I really wouldn't have finished this story without you. YOU ROCK!


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